


How to Tempt Fate Without Even Trying

by Andromytta



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adoption, Alpha Castiel/Omega Dean Winchester, Alpha Claire Novak, Alpha Sam Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Omega Kevin Tran, Post Mpreg, mentioned mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 13:29:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21209330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromytta/pseuds/Andromytta
Summary: Dean Winchester lived his life with no regrets, except for one, but he never thought about it. Ever. When their Uncle Bobby was in a near deadly accident, fate sent Dean and Sam to Sioux Falls. In Gabriel’s Cafe, Dean ran into a girl with ocean blue eyes, that brought back memories of a night two decades past. That the girl had golden waves like his mother made him keenly feel his one regret: the closed adoption he asked for when omegas don’t do that, Omega Separation Disorder being a very real threat to their mental health.When the girl turns out to be the sheriff’s daughter, Dean finds himself at a loss as to what to do. No one believes him when he’s sure she’s the baby he gave up, believing him to be suffering from latent Omega Separation Disorder.Castiel Novak left the country shortly after his one incredible night with the unforgettable omega. 20 years later, he comes back to the States to see his brother. Imagine his surprise when he runs into that omega and finds out they have a  child together.Fate has a way of getting what it wants, and it has sights set on Dean and Castiel.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the DCBB. This is my first solo attempt at the DCBB, but my partner in crime, [Nealinor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nealinor/pseuds/nealinor) was an invaluable asset as my beta reader, editor, and master of all things A/B/O. This piece would not be what it is without her.
> 
> The fabulous art was done by the incredibly talented [Jaeh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaeh/pseuds/Jaeh). It's as if the art was pulled straight from my head!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

When Dean Winchester was 22, the omega was having the time of his life. His giant alpha of a kid brother, Sam, had just enrolled in Stanford. He was prelaw, no less! Dean had signed a three book deal with an up and coming publishing house. The brothers had a great apartment just off campus and their relationship had never been better. Things were good, and nothing could go wrong.

One night, in the midst of a massive case of writer’s block, Dean decided to go out. Sam was working on a term paper, so he was on his own. He went to a local bar, one he and Sam frequented a lot. Dean had become friends with the bartender, and people pretty much left him alone. Dean was sitting at the bar, a shot of whiskey with a beer chaser in front of him, quietly contemplating his current novel when he was suddenly hit with a whiff of the best smelling alpha. He was enticed by the bergamot, leather, and hints of fresh earth that wafted to him. The man unobtrusively took a seat next to Dean, and when Dean finished his drink, the man quietly ordered them another round. He didn’t say a word to Dean, just sat there in silence, nursing his drink.

So when the alpha finally did speak, it caught Dean by surprise in more ways than one. He slid off of his bar stool, carefully leaned into Dean’s personal space, and whispered in a voice dripping with sex and honey. “You are the sexiest smelling omega I’ve met in a long time.” Dean resisted the urge to sniff himself. He would never have described his apple whiskey-ginger-with a hint of old books scent as “sexy.” “If you’re interested in a night of the best no strings attached sex you’ve ever had, I’ll be in the parking lot for the next ten minutes.” As he backed away, he added, “If you’re not interested, no hard feelings.”

Dean sat there for a few minutes contemplating the alpha’s offer. Dean wasn’t in a relationship, hell, he wasn’t even looking for a relationship, and a night of no strings attached sex seemed to be just what his muse ordered. Quite frankly, it had been a while for him, and how could he write hot and steamy omega romance novels without having hot and steamy sex? If the alpha lived up to even half of what he promised, Dean figured he was in for a fun night, so exactly eight and a half minutes later, he found himself in the parking lot.

Having only seen the man’s profile in the dimly lit bar, Dean didn’t quite know what to expect when he made his way to the bright parking lot. What he found was an alpha that definitely fit the delectable scent and made for sex voice. Leaning against a God awful gold 1978 Lincoln Mark V was dark washed jeans that stretched over thick, strong looking thighs. Broad shoulders were draped in a black leather jacket. Under tousled dark hair were deep ocean blue eyes that seemed to pierce through Dean.

Dean mirrored the alpha’s stance, leaning against his own car, a black 1967 Chevy Impala, that was conveniently parked next to the Lincoln. He flashed the alpha his most charming smirk. “So, where is this ‘best sex of my life’ supposed to happen?”

The alpha’s plush pink lips stretched into a confident smile. (Dean definitely had some ideas for those lips.) “I have a suite in a hotel a few blocks from here. You can follow me.”

Dean smiled back. “Sounds good. Guess I’ll meet you there in a few.”

“I certainly hope that you do.”

When Dean arrived at the five star hotel, the alpha (apparently exchanging names was not on the agenda) was already waiting for him. He escorted Dean to the elevator, and as soon as the doors closed, Dean couldn’t resist any longer. He had to know how those lips tasted, how they felt. The entire ride up to the penthouse suite, the two didn’t keep their hands off of each other, and as soon as they were tucked away in the alpha’s suite, their clothes came off.

The alpha hadn’t been exaggerating. It was the best sex Dean had ever had, over and over again. The alpha had the kind of stamina Dean had only ever written about. This was the kind of alpha that was the epitome of an omega’s wet dream.

When Dean finally made it home, sometime in the afternoon the next day, Sam barely glanced up from his studies. “I’m just guessing you had a fun night, and no, I don’t want details, as long as you were being safe.”

“No sex without safe sex, Sammy. You know that’s my motto.”

“I know, Dean. Now go take a shower. You reek.”

Dean sniffed himself. “You’re not wrong.”

With renewed vigor and inspiration, Dean suddenly found himself unable to stop writing. He spent the next month holed up in the apartment, only eating when Sam made him. Of course, eating wasn’t easy for Dean, when he suddenly seemed to throw up everything.

After one particularly prolonged morning worshipping the porcelain god, Sam shouted through the door, “Dude, it might be time to call a doctor!”

Dean opened the door, looking stricken. “I think you might be right, Sam.” He shoved something towards his brother.

Sam stared at the item in his hand for several minutes before it finally sunk in. “Dean! This is impossible! You’re on the Depo shot! And didn’t you use condoms???”

“Yeah, Sam, of course we did. All six times.”

“Um, gross. But clearly this is a false positive then. Depo can do that, right?”

Dean shoved two more pregnancy tests at his brother. “That one is from two days ago, and that one from two days before that.”

It was just that moment that it fully registered to Sam what he was holding, and all three tests clattered to the ground as Sam dropped them and quickly moved to wash his hands. “Bottom line, Dean,” Sam said over his shoulder, “You need to see your doctor.”

“No shit, Sherlock. I have an appointment this afternoon. You coming?”

“Of course I am, Dean. I’m your brother, aren’t I?”

Eight months or so later, Dean did what he had to do to give his baby and himself their best chance. He handed his beautiful baby girl, with golden curls and big blue eyes, over to the social worker, who would whisk her away to her new home.


	2. Two

Around twenty years later, Dean was one of the best-selling omega romance authors on the market. Not that anyone knew who he was, writing under the name D. Smith. Sam was a hot shot district attorney with a fantastic track record for prosecuting crimes against omegas. They moved out of their tiny two bedroom apartment and into a house in the hills. Sam had a few serious long term relationships. Dean had the occasional one night stand, but mostly just hung out with his friends at the bar.

Sam’s current relationship seemed to have “mate” written all over her. Madison, a female alpha, who worked with Sam at the DA’s office, seemed to be the first one who could really give Sam a run for his money. Neither of them was discouraged by the stigma surrounding same secondary gender couples. Dean was happy to see his brother finally close to settling down, he was eager to be an uncle.

The Winchester brothers were doing quite well for themselves, so of course that was when they got the call. Their Uncle Bobby had an accident at his scrap yard in Sioux Falls. He was in a coma, and Sam and Dean were his only living family. They had no choice but to pack up and head out there for a _very_ extended visit.

After days and days of handling Uncle Bobby’s affairs, Dean and Sam finally had time to visit Gabriel’s Café, everyone said it served the best pie in town, and of course, Dean had to find this out for himself. When the young, attractive, blonde waitress with deep ocean blue eyes came to take their order, Dean found he couldn’t stop staring.

“What can I get you?” She asked.

When Dean’s only answer was to keep staring, she turned to Sam, expertly hiding her discomfort, mostly.

“I’ll take a mineral water and fruit salad,” Sam ordered, then kicked Dean under the table.

“Pie, I’ll have pie,” he stammered. “And coffee.”

Slowly turning her gaze back to Dean, she asked, “What kind of pie? We have several.”

“Oh, um, whatever you think is best.”

“Alrighty then.” The waitress scribbled something on her pad and made her escape.

Sam glared at Dean. “Dude, what the hell? She’s gotta be what, 18, 19? Way too young for you! Quit being a creeper!”

“Uh, yeah, Sam, I’m pretty sure she’s 19.” Dean answered in a daze.

“You’re being weird, Dean.” Sam said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Her eyes, Sam. It’s her eyes.”

“Oh!” Sam said with sudden realization. “You think she’s…wait, you can’t think that she’s…yours?”

Sam and Dean never talked about the alpha from that one night stand from two decades ago. Dean didn’t tell Sam anything about his deep ocean blue eyes, or the way he smelled perfect, or anything. But Sam was there when Dean gave birth. Sam was there when Dean handed his baby girl to the social worker. Sam saw her ocean blue eyes and golden curls.

“Her hair too, Sam. It’s like Mom’s.”

“Dean, seriously, what are the chances?”

“I don’t know, Sam. But I have to find out.”

“It was a closed adoption, Dean. You can’t find out. This is what you wanted. You didn’t want to know.”

Dean finally shook himself out of his daze. “I know. You’re right Sam. I don’t really want to know.” Dean prided himself on living his life with absolutely no regrets, and he wasn’t about to let this be one of them. Because of course, it wasn’t. He told himself that every day.

Their order was delivered by a different waitperson. He set Sam’s order in front of him, and plopped a plate of pie and carafe of coffee unceremoniously in front of Dean. “Bourbon pecan pie, comes highly recommended by our head baker.” He narrowed whiskey brown eyes at the brothers and scowled at them before stomping off.

“Geez, who was that and what’s his problem?” Dean asked.

Sam shrugged.

The person at the next table turned to answer them. “That was Gabriel. He owns this joint. And whatever you did to tick him off, you might want to apologize. His alpha is Kali Ravner, district attorney of Sioux Falls, and if you boys are planning on sticking around for a while, Sam’s gonna want to be on her good side, if he wants a job that is.”

It was Sam’s turn to narrow his hazel eyes, and he turned them to the dark haired woman who was currently scolding them. “Who are you? More importantly, how do you know who we are?”

She smiled at them and stuck her hand out. “Hiya. I’m Sheriff Jody Mills. I was the one who called you when Bobby had his accident. He’s a close friend, and he talks about you boys so much that I feel almost like I know you.”

“Oh!” Sam exclaimed when realization hit. “Nice to finally meet you.” He shook her hand.

Dean accepted her hand shake next. “Yeah, nice to meet you. Also, I’m pretty sure Gabriel has an issue with me, not Sam.” He ducked his head a little. “I think I made that blonde waitress uncomfortable.”

“Blonde waitress? What blonde waitress?” Jody seemed confused for a moment, and then added, “Oh, you must mean Claire. She’s not a waitress, she’s the head baker…and my kid. What did you do to her?”

“Oh, um, nothing intentional.” Dean stammered. “I just, I thought she was someone else and stared at her like a creeper. I’m sorry.”

“Well, you should apologize to her too,” Jody suggested good naturedly. “And you’re about to have a chance.”

Claire came out of the kitchen and Jody waved her over. “Hey, kiddo! Let’s get a move on, your mom will have a cow if we’re late for dinner again. Besides, I think Donna invited the Trans over.”

When Claire looked over, she shot a fowl look in direction of Winchesters’ table before joining her mom. Jody took the time to introduce her to them before adding, “I think Dean has something to say to you.”

Dean, looking sufficiently chastised, said, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier. You just reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago. I’m sorry.”

Claire looked mildly confused, but shrugged and said, “No big deal. If Sheriff Mom here thinks you guys are worth talking to, you must be ok.”

“These are Bobby Singers’ boys,” Jody explained.

“I thought you said their last name was Winchester?” Claire asked.

“Remember, family don’t end in blood. Isn’t that what Bobby always says?” Jody replied.

Dean and Sam smiled. “Bobby is a wise man,” Dean added.

“We should get going,” Jody said. “Sam, I’ll put in a good word with Kali, in case you boys do decide to stay. I know it would mean a lot to Bobby.”

“Hey, thanks, Jody. Maybe we’ll see you around.”

“I’d count on it.” She winked at them before escorting Claire out.

“See, Dean, she’s not your kid after all,” Sam said, but Dean was already staring out the door.

“Still could be, Sam. Claire’s got two moms, they could have adopted her.”

“Or one of them could have given birth to her. Let it go, dude. You’ll only make yourself miserable.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Sam. Let’s just get back to Bobby’s. We have a lot of work to do if his house is going to be a suitable place for him to come home to.”

***

Of course, Dean couldn’t let it go. They’d been in Sioux Falls for about six weeks. Bobby was still in a coma, Sam had managed to get a job with the district attorney’s office, and Dean was staring at his latest manuscript.

Having given up on getting any actual writing done, Dean decided to surf the web to dig up all he could about closed adoptions. What he found out was basically what Sam had already told him, that neither the birth parents nor the adoptive parents could get information about the other. Of course, Dean wouldn’t let that stop him. He did the only other thing he could think of, he called Missouri Moseley, their social worker from Lawrence, Kansas who helped Bobby get custody of him and Sam when their dad finally went off the rails. Missouri had been Dean’s first call when decided to put his baby up for adoption all those years ago, so he figured she would help him now.

“Dean, all I did was put you in touch with my protégé, who happened to be working in Palo Alto at the time. I had nothing to do with placing your baby into a new home.” Missouri said once Dean explained the reason for his call.

“So, I’m just supposed to believe that you had nothing to do with placing my daughter in a home in the same town where you placed me and Sam when we were kids?”

“Dean, why didn’t you call Anna?” Missouri was ducking his question, but referring him back to the social worker who actually helped him was a legitimate concern.

“Because I called Palo Alto Social Services, and Anna Milton doesn’t work there anymore. Those idiots don’t even know where she transferred to.”

“She came to Lawrence to work with me, you big dummy. Remember, I started my own agency?”

“Oh, yeah. I guess it makes sense that your protégé would come work with you.”

“Call my office in the morning. I’ll make sure Anna is available to take your call.”

“Ok, I’ll do that. Thanks, Missouri.”

Dean hung up the phone no closer to answers than he was before. But there was something about Missouri Mosely that always put him at ease, so at least he was feeling more centered than before.

When he spoke to Anna the next day, he didn’t have any better luck than he’d had thus far. All Anna could tell him was that a social worker from somewhere other than Palo Alto, California, had a couple who wanted to adopt, but was having difficulties. They didn’t care if the adoption was open or closed, but because they were a same sex couple, no one wanted to adopt to them. Dean’s situation worked in their favor, since he literally didn’t care who adopted his baby, as long as they were good people. Since Anna knew the other social worker, she trusted her judgement that her clients were good people. Of course, Anna refused to even tell Dean who the other social worker was, much to his dismay.

In a fit of frustration, Dean threw his cell phone towards the wall; luckily Sam caught it just as he walked in the door. “Rough day?” he asked when he saw Dean hunched over his desk.

“Yeah, no one will tell me what happened to my kid!”

“Um, closed adoption, Dean. That’s kind of the point.”

“Shut up.”


	3. Three

Castiel Novak was considered an ideal alpha. He came from a good, wealthy family; he was well educated, and extremely easy on the eyes. He also smelled like heaven, at least, that’s what all his partners said to him. Castiel was the epitome of an omega’s wet dream, and he knew it. He also had no interest in mating, ever. When he happened upon an omega that piqued his interest, he always offered them a night of incredible, no strings attached sex, and he always delivered.

While any number of qualities could pique his interest, Cas never actually limited himself exclusively to male or female omegas. However, he did have a preferred type. He preferred the rare male omega, and he preferred one who was maybe a bit taller and broader than he was. It was a bit of a power trip to get them to bend to his will and quiver at his touch. Unfortunately for him, that type of omega was most rare indeed.

The day his parents threatened him with an arranged marriage, he left. He got into his gold 1978 Lincoln Mark V, the only thing he ever bought with his own money, and just drove. He found himself in a small dive bar in Palo Alto, California staring at his ideal omega specimen. The man appeared to be wrapped up in his own thoughts, so Castiel had determined he would leave him alone, but he couldn’t resist the urge to take the seat next to him and buy him drinks. When he figured he’d tormented himself enough by being in the man’s presence for so long, he decided to leave. In the time it took him to pay his tab and climb off of his bar stool, he decided “fuck it.” He was leaving the country the next day, so he extended his usual offer to the sexy omega.

After standing alone in the parking lot for eight and half minutes, he barely managed to hide his surprise when the omega finally appeared. He called the hotel and booked the penthouse suite as they were driving there.

It was the best sex he’d ever had, and he’d had lots of great sex. To his surprise and delight (and maybe some, very little disappointment) when the omega left the next day, he didn’t say what they all say, some variation on “We should do this again sometime.” No, this omega left simply by saying, “That was awesome.” Then, he was gone.

A couple of hours later, Cas was on his flight to Tibet. He spent the next two decades travelling around Asia and Europe and Africa taking pictures for various publications. He made a decent living, on his own, without his family and their strings and obligations. Eventually, though, he decided to return to the states, to the one person in his family he actually liked and missed; his brother, Gabriel.

When he walked into that café in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, his brother spotted him immediately and practically leapt over the counter to engulf him in a tight hug. “Castiel! Baby bro! You’re back!”

He patted Gabriel on the back awkwardly. “Yes, Gabriel, I am indeed back.”

Gabriel walked them to a secluded booth in the corner. “It’s been twenty years, Cas. What brings you back here? Searching for that illusive ‘perfect omega’ you found that one time?”

Castiel scowled at his brother and immediately regretted telling him that story the one time his brother had managed to track him down in the last two decades. “No, Gabriel. The only omega I am here to see is you.”

“So, do you think Mom and Dad will still make you go through with that arranged mating?” Gabriel chuckled.

“Twenty years later? Oh God, I hope not!”

“Well, if you’re here for the family inheritance, you might have to go through with it.” Gabriel flashed him a shit-eating grin.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not interested in the family money.”

“That’s excellent news!” Gabe exclaimed. “So, where are you staying while you’re in town?”

“Probably Sioux Falls Motor Lodge,” Castiel replied. His days of penthouse suites in luxury hotels were long behind him.

“Not a chance, Bro. You’ll stay with me. I’m sure Kali won’t mind.”

“That’s very generous of you, Gabriel. But you know that’s not why I’m here. I can secure my own accommodations.”

“I know you can. But I want to do this. Did you ever think that maybe _I_ missed you?”

“I missed you too, and I’d be honored to stay at your home. Thank you, Gabriel.”

Gabriel passed a set of keys over to Castiel. “The car is parked in the back lot. Let me just tell my staff that I’m leaving early and they better not slack off, and then we’ll get you settled in.” He was gone before Cas had a chance to respond.

Cas just shrugged and headed for the door. As he passed by what appeared to be a recently abandoned table, he caught a whiff of a familiar, yet long forgotten smell. He brushed it off, because it was impossible. What he thought he smelled couldn’t possibly have been there, at his brother’s café in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. No, it belonged on a bar stool in a dive in Palo Alto, California. Or a penthouse suite in the five star hotel a few blocks away. Not here, not now; it had to be his imagination.

Cas shook his head and walked out the door, rounding the corner of the building to the back lot where the café employees parked. There he found it, his Lincoln Continental. He made sure Gabriel got the keys, the title, and a note of explanation before he left the states. He smiled. It was good to have his car again, even if it technically wasn’t his anymore.

“Did you miss this Pimpmobile?” Gabriel called out to him as he headed in his direction.

“Actually, yes; and I’m quite pleasantly surprised to see that you kept it, considering how you seem to disdain it.”

“Of course I kept it. It was a gift from my brother, right? Even if it is an eyesore.”

“You love it, you know it,” Castiel smirked.

“Ok, ok, I admit it. I do love this hunk of junk. You’re not going to take it back now that you’re here, are you?”

“No, of course not. But I would like to be able to drive her a bit while I’m here.”

“Absolutely, Bro. Your car is my car is your car. Or whatever. Let’s just go home, ok?”

“Yes, Gabriel.”


	4. Four

Sam knew his brother well enough that he knew Dean would not let it go, even though he said he would. Dean was convinced Claire was that baby he gave up all those years ago, and all Sam could do to help him was to disprove Dean’s theory.

He couldn’t talk to Dean about it, because every time he tried, his brother shut down. But he knew Dean had been in touch with Missouri and Anna and was looking for the social worker that helped broker the adoption on the other end. So, Sam used his new position at the DA’s office to do a little digging of his own.

The first thing he did was chat up Sheriff Mills. That was easy enough when he ran into her at the courthouse on an almost daily basis. He found out that her wife, Donna, used to be a sheriff as well, until they decided to have kids, then Donna wanted to be a stay at home mom. When he found out that both women were betas, he became convinced that Claire had, indeed, been adopted. Claire was an alpha, and only parents who had secondary genders of alpha and omega themselves could give birth to a child with a secondary gender.

Of course, just because Sam was sure Claire had been adopted; it was a far cry from believing she was his niece.

Attempting to do some real digging, Sam found Claire’s birth and adoption records to be sealed. This did point to a closed adoption. Being an ADA, Sam could have had the records unsealed, but that would have been wrong, and he wasn’t willing to risk his new job just to assuage Dean’s curiosity and guilt. That’s what Sam had started to believe; that this quest of Dean’s was spurned out of two decades of buried guilt. Back when everything first happened, Sam encouraged Dean to seek counselling, and by some miracle of brotherhood, Dean did. But when he decided it wasn’t for him, Sam didn’t push. He knew Dean had to deal with things in his own way. Only now, Sam wish he had pushed, had used his position as the family alpha to make him go to counselling. Of course, now it was too late, and he just had to help Dean get through this the best that he could.

So, Sam took his research in a different, safer, and legal direction. He decided to look into social workers in Sioux Falls from twenty years ago. He figured if he could find the one who handled Claire’s adoption, he could put the issue to rest once and for all. Part of him hoped that she was his niece, because then Dean could be assured his baby went to a good a family. Part of him hoped she came from somewhere else so that Dean could finally drop it. Of course, he knew Dean never would, now that it was on his mind. His brother was obsessive when an idea got into his head.

When Sam made the short trek to Sioux Falls Social Services (short, as they were one floor down from the DA’s office) he found that Sioux Falls had a grand total of three social workers, and they were all out on assignment. So, he was stuck talking to the college intern who worked the phones.

“You’re Sam Winchester, the new ADA,” the kid said as soon as Sam walked in. He came around the desk and stuck his hand out. “I’m Kevin Tran. I got this internship because I was in Advanced Placement.”

Sam chuckled at the enthusiastic greeting and shook the young man’s hand. “Hi Kevin.”

“How can I help you? Are you working on a big case?”

“I’m afraid not, Kevin. I just need some help in a personal matter. Listen, can you tell me who was working as a social worker twenty years ago.

Kevin slipped behind his desk and started hitting keys on his computer. “Sure, I can. But even without looking I can tell you none of them are here anymore. Everyone working now has only been here for five years or less.”

“Well, that might make it difficult to have coffee with the person I’m looking for, but maybe with a name I can give them a call.”

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Kevin responded. A moment later he was pulling a piece of paper off the printer and handing it to Sam. He pointed at each name on the list. “This one, Mr. Cain, he died about a year ago. This one, Ms. Gideon, she became a nun. Oh, but see this one? Tessa McNamara? She’s awesome. She handled Claire Mills’ adoption.” The goofy smile Kevin had said that Kevin had a personal interest in that adoption. Which of course worked to Sam’s advantage.

“So, Sheriff Mills’ kid is adopted?”

“Well, yeah. I was actually there when Claire found out. We grew up next door to each other. Anyway, her moms kind of had to tell her when she was twelve and presented early as an alpha. Two betas cannot produce an alpha child.” Kevin said it so matter of factly, and Sam didn’t even have to grill him. This was too easy.

“Sounds a bit like you’ve got a crush on the girl next door.” Sam teased lightly.

“Well, I mean, have you seen her? She’s gorgeous! And she can bake. Claire makes the best pies. She must get that from one of her birth parents. Sheriff Mills can barely cook, and Sheriff Hanscum only bakes cupcakes. Says she can’t make pie crust worth a flying fudge. Her words, not mine.”

That…was interesting. Besides Claire’s blue eyes and blonde hair, Dean’s evidence that she was his child was the fact that her apple pie tasted just like their mom’s. Unfortunately, Sam had no means of comparison, since she died when he was a baby. Of course, he didn’t say any of that, instead he asked, “Do you know how to get in touch with Tessa McNamara?”

“Let me see.” Kevin hit his keyboard again, fingers flying over it about a mile a minute, and hitting it so hard it sounded like a mini rainstorm. “She’s working in Lawrence, Kansas, with Mosely Social Services.”

Sam just raised an eyebrow. That couldn’t be coincidence. “Thank you, Kevin. I know how to reach Ms. Mosely.”

“I figured you did, considering she orchestrated your guardianship situation with Bobby Singer.”

Sam decided then that Kevin knew too much for his own good. He quickly took his leave. As soon as he was alone in his office, Sam called Missouri.

“Hello, Sam,” Missouri answered before he could even say hello. “I had a feeling you’d be calling me. You’ve been talking to Kevin Tran, haven’t you?”

Sam pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a beat or two. There was no way Kevin had a chance to tell Missouri about their meeting. But Sam didn’t know why he was surprised. Missouri always seemed to know everything.

“Yes, I have.” Sam confirmed. Then he took a deep breath before continuing on. “Missouri, what’s going on here? Dean is convinced he’s accidentally found his long lost daughter, and despite my efforts to dissuade him…”

She cut him off. “All the evidence you’re finding seems to prove his theory?”

“Exactly.”

“Listen, Sam, Dean wanted this. He wanted a closed adoption. It’s not time for him to know yet. He’s not ready. But soon, Sam. Soon everything will reveal itself. Fate always has her way, despite our best intentions.”

“Missouri, are you being cryptic just to mess with me?”

“Sam Winchester, don’t you take that tone of voice with me!”

“Sorry Missouri.”

“I know, Sam. You’re frustrated, and that’s ok. Just trust me on this, alright? And don’t tell Dean we talked.”

“Yes, Missouri,” Sam said contritely.

“Good boy. Talk to you soon.” With that, she hung up the phone.

When Sam made it home that evening, he was greeted by the scent of apples and cinnamon. When he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he saw more pies than even Dean could eat in a reasonable time, and Dean slumped on the floor in the corner, back against the cabinet that held the pans.

“Dean? What the hell happened? Did a bakery explode in here? Did it take you down with it?”

“I can’t do it, Sam. I can’t recreate Mom’s apple pie. But that girl at that café, she _can_.”

It was then that Sam noticed each of the pies had a slice cut out of it. He shook his head and made his way over to his brother, reaching down a hand to help him up. “Dean, I think you’re losing it just a little bit here.”

Dean dusted his hands off on his jeans. “I know, Sam, I know. I just don’t know how to not lose it at this point.”

“Maybe you should talk to somebody?” Sam suggested warily.

Dean shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. But what kind of shrink would work in Sioux Falls?”

“Hopefully a good one!” Sam said brightly, lightening the mood.

“I know that’s right,” Dean agreed with a chuckle.

***

The next day, Dean did manage to schedule an appointment with a counselor he found quite by accident. He was visiting Bobby at Sioux Falls Memorial when he literally ran into her in the cafeteria. Her name was Charlie Bradbury, and she squished her lime Jell-O into his favorite Led Zepplin tee shirt. Dean dropped his chocolate pudding into her fiery red hair.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” The tiny red head exclaimed as she dabbed at Dean’s shirt uselessly with a napkin.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Dean insisted. “It was at least partially my fault, and you got it way worse than I did,” he said as he pulled a glob of pudding out of her hair.

She tugged at her hair. “Yeah, I suppose I did. Good thing I get to use the staff showers here.”

“Oh? What are you? Orderly? Nurse? Doctor?”

“Counselor. I work with the kids mostly. You know, the ones with ‘behavioral issues’?” She used finger quotes around “behavioral issues.” “Really, they just need someone to listen to them and talk to them instead of at them. You know what I mean?”

Dean nodded. He did know what she meant. He probably could have used someone like her when he was the one with “behavioral issues.” So, Dean went for it. “Say, Charlie, do you, you know, ever work with adults?”

“Why, do you have ‘behavioral issues’ Mr. Winchester?”

“Well, I definitely have issues…”

“Hmmm….well, I just happen to have an opening tomorrow afternoon around two. My office is in the subbasement.”

“That’s not at all creepy!” Dean exclaimed.

“I know, right?” Charlie agreed. She pulled out a Marvel card case from her back pocket and pulled a card out and wrote 2 P.M. on it. “Here, take this so that you don’t forget. I’ll see you then!” With that, she threw him a wave and headed in the direction Dean could only hope was towards the staff showers.

Since he accomplished the one thing he had promised Sam he would do (and had absolutely no intention of actually doing) Dean decided to treat himself to some pie from what was becoming his favorite café. He did kind of hope that the lead baker stayed in her kitchen though. He wasn’t sure he could deal with seeing her today.

He decided to walk there from the hospital, since parking there tended to be a bit of a challenge. As he approached, what he saw made him immediately turn and walk away. He didn’t see Claire, but sitting there, in a booth against the window, was the best sex Dean had ever had. The two decades had been good to the alpha, making him even more attractive than Dean remembered. His jaw was more chiseled, his hair more tousled, and when he turned to look out the window, his eyes were just as deep ocean blue as Dean remembered. With a gulp, he turned around and walked away, and hoped the alpha didn’t recognize him.

Castiel sat in the booth in his brother’s café, contemplating his life. He met his brother’s favorite employee, a young woman named Claire, and was beyond startled to see his own eyes looking back at him. He went over all of his conquests from before he left the country, and was positive he didn’t make a mistake. He always used protection. “No sex without safe sex” was the motto he lived by. As he let his mind float back to those days, of course he couldn’t help but linger on the memory of that omega from Palo Alto. But it couldn’t possibly have been him. He _knew_ they used a condom, a new one every time. The omega all but insisted on it, and was the one to pull it carefully over Cas’s knot. That omega also insisted he was on birth control, so they had nothing to worry about. Why was his mind stuck on _that_ omega? Was it because if he actually did have a pup out there, he hoped it was with that one?

As he stared absently into his coffee cup, he felt someone staring at him from just outside the window. When he looked up, he was sure his eyes deceived him. There he was, that same omega. It had to be a figment of his imagination, but a figment doesn’t usually show the growth and age of two decades. Those decades had been good to the omega though, filling him out and making him look even more like the type of strong omega Castiel craved. His mind had to be playing tricks on him, because it couldn’t possibly be the same man. It just couldn’t. The way he turned and practically ran away when Castiel’s blue eyes caught on his apple green ones though, Cas knew it was him. He’d recognize those eyes anywhere. Those eyes had haunted his dreams for twenty years.

“Let me guess, you’re day dreaming about the one who got away?” Gabriel said as he slid into the booth across from Castiel.

“Either that, or he’s in Sioux Falls,” Cas answered honestly. He was done pretending that he wasn’t still interested in that omega from Palo Alto. At least he was done pretending around Gabriel. His brother could always see right through him anyway.

“Wait, your perfect dream omega from twenty years ago in California is here, now, in South Dakota? How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know, Gabe. Maybe I’ve just finally gone off the deep end, like Mom and Dad always said I would.” He pitched his voice to mock their mother. “You know, Son, an unmated alpha starts to lose his mind when he passes the age of thirty, so you should start looking for a mate now.” He smiled without mirth as he added, “I passed the age of thirty a while ago, so maybe I am cracking up.”


	5. Five

Dean spent the morning pacing as he debated whether he should keep his appointment with Charlie or cancel it. In the end, he decided to keep it just in case the theory that unmated omegas over the age of 35 lost their minds might be true. So, he went, and he told Charlie everything.

She laughed at him, profusely, for at least five minutes.

“Dean, you do know that thing about unmated alphas and omegas losing their minds in their thirties is a total myth, right?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Your face is a myth.” Dean said dryly as he crossed his arms and slumped in his chair.

“Well, it is.” Charlie insisted. “Do you know what’s not a myth? What can make an omega go a little crazy? It’s parental separation. Omegas who give up their children for adoption, regardless of it being the better option for the child, tend to lose it a little bit. That’s why most of them opt for open adoptions.”

“Ok, I know all of this already. The social worker told me all of this.” Dean said, and he totally wasn’t pouting.

“Then why did you do a closed adoption in the first place?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Dean, that’s not a real answer.”

Dean rested his elbows on his knees and stared at his hands. He was studying his cuticles intently as he picked at them nervously. If he admitted to Charlie his real reason behind the closed adoption, he’d have to admit to all the other things that he hadn’t thought about in twenty years. The implications were just far too much for him to deal with.

Finally, after several minutes of silence, Dean just started talking. He never looked up from his hands, never looked at Charlie. He simply let his mind float back and the words just came spilling out of him.

“I tried to tell him. When I found out, that is. I went back to the hotel, but since we never exchanged names, the front desk wouldn’t tell me anything. Finally, after trying day after day to get whatever information I could from the hotel staff, the doorman who had been working that night recognized me, remembered the alpha I was talking about, and he told me that the alpha left a couple of hours after I did, catching the airport shuttle. Of course, the doorman didn’t know where he was going, only that he was gone. Didn’t know his name either. This is going to sound stupid, but I almost thought he was my true mate. At the time, it was the only thing that made sense, you know, that romantic notion that the only thing that could surpass any and all forms of birth control was sex with your true mate. But obviously, that’s just a myth too. True mates are a myth. I mean, clearly one of the condoms broke and we didn’t notice. But, I guess with pregnancy hormones or whatever, I thought it could be true. I figured if it was true, I’d run into him again. Clearly not.”

When Dean eventually stopped talking and looked up at Charlie, she was grinning at him.

“What?” Dean asked.

“Didn’t you say you saw him through the window at Gabriel’s Café? You _did_ run into him again.”

Dean chuckled sardonically. “Yeah, sure I did. It was totally him, and together with Claire we’ll be one big, happy family. Because that’s just how my life works.”

Charlie took a deep breath as if she was getting ready to give a long winded speech. “Ok, so maybe it was him, and maybe it wasn’t. Maybe Claire is your child, maybe she isn’t. You do know there’s a very simple way to find out, right?”

Dean just stared at her as if she had two heads. When was anything in his life ever simple?

“Talk to them, dumbass.”

“Hey, are you allowed to call your patients ‘dumbass’?”

“When they’re being a dumbass, yes,” Charlie said. “Seriously, talk to them. Say ‘hello’ to the hot alpha. If he is the one from before, he’ll remember you, and if he’s not, what’s the big loss? At worst you could make a new friend.”

“No, at worst I could find out that he is the same guy and he doesn’t remember me. Or worse, he does. At worst I could find out that Claire is my kid. At worst, this guy and I could be true mates…”

“And then you could get everything you’ve ever wanted.” Charlie said with a smile.

“Or they could hate me.”

After talking for several more minutes, Charlie finally managed to somewhat convince Dean to confront his fears. Dean decided he would at least talk to Jody Mills about Claire. If nothing else, he owed it to Claire, and to himself, to find out the truth. As for talking to the mystery alpha, Dean still wasn’t sure it wasn’t a completely horrible idea, so he figured he’d sit on that one for a while, and surprisingly, Charlie didn’t try to convince him further. Once Charlie secured a promise from Dean to come see her in a week, and to call her if anything went down before his next appointment, she let Dean go with a hug and a kiss on his cheek.

Dean got into the elevator to head back up to the ground floor from the subbasement determined that he would talk to Sheriff Mills…after he had some pie. He also decided that he was not about to talk to that alpha, who was probably just a figment of his imagination anyway. Of course, Fate couldn’t just leave well enough alone.

One floor away from freedom, the elevator stopped at the basement level (what kind of building has more than one basement anyway?). It wasn’t until the doors closed and the scent of the other person filled the tiny carriage that Dean realized what happened. Dean had been intently staring at his phone, not at all interested in engaging with another human being when it hit him: bergamot, leather, and a touch of earth, and he raised his head only to lock into the bluest eyes he had only seen one other time in his life. The alpha was staring right at him, mouth hanging open in obvious shock. The elevator chose that moment to grind to a halt between floors.

“It’s really you, isn’t it?” The alpha asked, and even though it seemed impossible, the years had only managed to make his voice even more gravelly, and sexier than ever. He reached towards Dean, but stopped short just before stroking his cheek.

“I…I don’t know.” Dean answered, and even to him his voice sounded far away. He didn’t even notice how the alpha was now a bit shy, free of all the bravado he possessed that night so long ago.

“You don’t know who you are, or you don’t know if you’re who I think you are?” The alpha asked a little awkwardly.

“Both?” Dean answered, trying with all his will to tear his eyes away from the other man.

The smell of anxious omega was starting to flood the elevator, and did Dean hate it when his body did that. The alpha scrunched his brow and cocked his head to one side, as if he were studying the omega. “I apologize if I made you nervous,” the alpha began, “it’s just, you remind me so much of someone I met a long time ago.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that same feeling,” Dean replied.

They stood in silence for several minutes, neither moving away from the other, as if they were frozen to the spot. Finally, it was Dean who broke it. Taking a deep breath, and gulping down his mild panic, he managed to say, “I tried to find you, a few weeks after that night. But we never exchanged names, so the hotel wouldn’t tell me anything. Eventually the door man told me you left that same day.” Dean immediately regretted it as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

“Why did you try to find me?” The alpha asked, not in a judgmental way. He sounded like he was genuinely curious.

“Oh, um, no reason,” Dean stammered. This was not the time or place to tell someone they had a kid out there somewhere. “I um, I think I put on your boxers by mistake,” he finished lamely.

“Oh.” The alpha barely managed to hide the disappointment behind that one tiny syllable.

Once again, the elevator was filled with silence. Somehow, both of them seemed to have forgotten that they were stuck, and neither of them bothered to use the emergency line to call for help. This time, the alpha decided to break the silence. “Castiel.”

Dean looked at him with confusion; the nonsense word seemed a total non sequitur.

“That’s my name. Castiel Novak. You mentioned we never exchanged names, and I figured it was about time.”

“Oh!” Dean exclaimed. “I’m Dean Winchester.”

“Nice to meet you, Dean.” Castiel extended his hand again, this time for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you too, Castiel.” Dean shook his hand.

The second their hands touched, the elevator groaned and recommenced its climb to the ground floor.

“Well, that was weird.” Dean observed.

“Indeed.” Castiel agreed.

Soon, the door opened into the hospital’s lobby, cutting Dean and Castiel’s interaction short. Suddenly feeling awkward all over again, Dean tried to make a hasty exit. “I, um, I guess I should go.”

Dean only made it a few steps towards freedom when Castiel called out to him. “Dean, wait. I’d really like to take you out for a cup of coffee. That is, if you would like to. If not, then no hard feelings.”

This chance meeting was somehow both eerily similar and entirely different from their previous one. Dean’s first instinct was to bolt, and yet he didn’t. Instead he said, “Throw in some pie and it’s a date.” He felt a real, genuine smile cross his face for the first time since the elevator stopped.

“You got it.” Castiel smiled back at him.

They walked to Gabriel’s Café. They headed that way without forethought or discussion. It was as if their feet just carried them in that direction. It really did have the best food in town, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise. But somehow, Dean felt there was something bigger in control than just their desire for pie and coffee.

When they walked in, Dean headed towards his usual table while Castiel made a beeline for his usual booth in the corner. Castiel turned around and gestured to Dean. “We might have more privacy over here, if that’s alright with you.”

“Oh, yeah, good call,” Dean said as he followed Castiel to his booth.

Shortly after they sat down, they were greeted with, “Oh great. Now the two weirdos are sitting together.”

“Hello to you too, Claire,” Castiel replied dryly.

“Look, I know you’re my boss’s brother, and he’s friends with my mom, so I _have _to be nice to you, but I’m sorry, you’re weird. With all of your staring and stuff. Ew.” She gave an exaggerated shudder to emphasize her point. “Anyway, what do you want?”

“Coffee and pie,” Dean answered.

“Great, so your usual. And you?”

“I would like coffee and pie as well,” Castiel said.

“And I suppose you want me to pick?”

“You are the expert,” Castiel replied.

Claire rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She strode off without another word.

After ordering, Dean really didn’t know what to say. Claire’s accusation caught him off guard. He knew he was guilty of staring, but to find out he 

wasn’t the only one was surprising, and not in a good way. Luckily, it wasn’t long before their coffee and pies were delivered to the table with a thunk. Dean was glad Claire walked away without saying another word. What Dean had to say was hard enough as it was. He considered keeping it to himself for the time being, but he knew that wasn’t fair.

Staring into his coffee cup for several minutes, Dean finally found the courage to speak. “Listen, Castiel…”

“Cas,” he cut Dean off. “You can call me Cas.”

Dean didn’t look up from his coffee. He sighed heavily and continued. “Listen, Cas, there’s something I should probably tell you…the real reason I tried to find you after…well, after…you know.”

“Yes Dean? What is it?”

When Dean finally looked up, there was such a sincere and curious look in Cas’s eyes that it made it easier for Dean to finally blurt it out. “Cas, I tried to find you after because I got knocked up. We…we have a kid.”

Cas’s eyes grew wide and he drew his full lips into a thin line. “We…we what?”

“Um, yeah. I had a baby girl and put her up for adoption, and that’s that.” Dean nodded definitively.

“But that’s not that, is it?” Castiel asked calmly.

Dean narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Castiel. He was more than surprised the alpha was taking this so well. “You’re not even going to ask how it happened, since we used protection? No accusations? No declaring that there’s no way you’re the alpha?”

“No Dean. I believe you. But you do have something else to tell me, right? You’re about to tell me that Claire is our child?”

“Well, no…maybe…I don’t know. And don’t say anything to her either. I have to talk to Jody first.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Castiel asked, more surprised than anything.

“I asked for a closed adoption, so I don’t know for sure.”

“Omegas never have closed adoptions.” Castiel said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, I did. And before you ask, no, I didn’t suffer from Omega Separation Disorder, or whatever the so called experts are calling it now. And how did you know, about Claire, I mean.”

“She has my eyes.”

“You noticed that too?” Dean asked, even though he wasn’t really surprised. “Look, I don’t know for sure. I’ve been trying to find out from my old social worker, but she won’t say anything. I have to talk to Jody before I say anything to Claire, so just keep this to yourself, ok?”

“Of course I will, Dean. Whatever you think is best.” What Castiel said would have sounded patronizing coming from any other alpha, but Dean knew he was sincere. He didn’t know how he knew, he just did.

“Thanks, Cas.” He rewarded Castiel with his most winning smile. “You know, you’re different than I expected.”

“Why? Because twenty-something me was an arrogant and cocky alpha who presumed he could get into any omega’s pants?” Castiel asked with a wink.

“Yes, exactly.” Dean replied.

“Well, that was a long time ago. Back then, I guess I was exactly that. Even if I had been fortunate enough to find my perfect omega, I wouldn’t have been smart enough to see it, or hang onto him.” Castiel’s words weighed heavily over their table with meaning and intention not spoken.

Clearing his throat in order to clear the thickness from the air, Dean said, “Yeah, I know what you mean. I wasn’t exactly looking to settle down back then either.” He meant it when he said it, and it was true back then, but over the years Dean had become self-aware enough to know that if the right alpha had come along, and stayed, Dean would have been more than ready to settle down with him. Since they seemed to be laying everything out on the table, Dean decided to tell Castiel as much. “But, if I had met the right person, and they’d stuck around long enough, I might have been ready.”

It was Castiel’s turn to clear his throat. “Well, timing is everything, as they say.” He paused a moment before continuing. “I had to, or thought I had to, leave the country. My parents were trying to set me up with an arranged mating to someone I had never met and was sure I would have no interest in. Honestly, that night we met, I wasn’t even looking for a hook up, just to get tipsy enough to forget about my problems. Then I met you.”

Dean chuckled at that. “I wasn’t looking for a hook up either. Then you came along and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Sure was a fun night though.”

“It was a fun morning too.” Castiel agreed. Then he took a deep breath, signaling a change in the conversation. “I suppose I have to ask this, if you were on birth control back then, and we used protection, how did it happen?”

“That is a good question my doctor didn’t exactly know how to answer except to say ‘Nothing is 100% effective.’ Though my therapist has another theory, that I do _not_ want to get into, because she’s nuts.” Dean said. He didn’t even think to be embarrassed telling this person, who was practically a stranger, that he was seeing a therapist. Dean didn’t want to dwell on why that was.

Thankfully, Castiel took the hint and didn’t ask. Instead, he said, “If your therapist is nuts, isn’t that counterproductive?”

Dean cracked up laughing. He actually guffawed, and Cas looked like the cat who got the canary, wearing a big, toothy, gummy grin. “You have a wonderful laugh,” Cas said once Dean calmed down.

“You’re funny.” Dean replied.

“Thank you. Gabriel doesn’t think I understand humor.”

“I think he just doesn’t understand you, Cas.”

“Do _you_ understand me, Dean?”

“Yeah, Cas. Maybe I do.” Dean grinned at him.

“I would like that.” Cas replied with a smile.

After that, their conversation drifted to general first date topics. Dean revealed that _Die Hard_ was his favorite movie, while Castiel preferred documentaries. They discussed what they did for a living, although Dean didn’t dare tell Cas exactly what kind of books he wrote. Castiel told Dean about some of the incredible things he saw while travelling the world. Eventually, the pie and coffee was gone, and they decided to end their impromptu date with Cas walking Dean to his car, which was still parked in the hospital’s parking garage. (Cas’s was still behind the diner, having walked to the hospital after bringing Gabriel to work.) When Cas saw that Dean still had the same car, he broke out into a huge grin.

“You still have this car!” He said excitedly. “I never got a chance to tell you how beautiful it is.”

Dean chuckled. “First of all, Baby is a lady, she’s not an ‘it.’ Second of all, it’s not like we did a whole lot of talking when we first met. If we had, I would have told you that you were too hot for that Pimpmobile you were driving.”

Castiel pouted. “I still have that car. I still love that car. I gave it to Gabriel when I left just so it could stay in the family.”

Dean patted Cas on the shoulder in apology

. “I’m sorry Cas. But that car is a tragedy.”

The more Cas pouted, the funnier Dean thought it was. “Dean, it’s not funny! That car was the first thing I bought with my own money!”

Dean stopped laughing. “Oh. I didn’t realize. I’m sorry, Cas. It’s a great car….for a pimp.” He started laughing again.

“Dammit, Dean! You’re incorrigible, aren’t you?”

“Hell yeah.”

“I’m going back to the café now, Dean.” Cas said with an exaggerated pout.

Dean caught Cas by the wrist. “Wait a minute.” He held Cas’s large hand as he dug a pen out of his pocket, then scribbled something on his palm. “There. That’s my number. You should call me.”

“I’ll think about it. But I’m not sure how much I’d have to say to someone who disdains my car.” Castiel said.

Dean shrugged. “Fine. But even if you don’t call, I’m sure we’ll run into each other again. After all, Gabriel’s is the best place to eat in town.”

“Well, in that case, we shall see each other again.” Castiel said, and then paused before speaking again. “Seriously though, Dean, it was nice spending time with you today. I will call you.” He chanced giving Dean a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and walking hurriedly away.

“What a dork,” Dean chuckled to himself as he got into his car to head home. Sam was not going to believe it when Dean told him how he spent his day.


	6. Six

The next morning, Castiel awoke to find his brother at the foot of his bed. “Gabriel? What the hell?”

“Are you going to call him?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow at him.

“Call who?”

Gabriel picked up Castiel’s hand and held it to his face. “Him. You know, the hot dude you had pie and coffee with yesterday.”

Cas snatched his hand out of Gabe’s grasp. “I will call him when I’m ready. Go away, I’m asleep.”

“Fine. But you probably shouldn’t wait too long. You know he’s not going to be in town forever.” With that, Gabriel abruptly left the room, leaving Cas alone with his thoughts.

Castiel didn’t really know what to do about the whole Dean situation. On the one hand, he did really like Dean, at least, he liked what he’d gotten to know so far. On the other hand, Dean did drop a pretty big bombshell. One with implications Castiel wasn’t at all ready for. The omega had given Cas a lot of information in a short period of time, and Castiel wanted to give everything the time and thought it deserved before he contacted Dean again. He didn’t have any idea what Dean expected of him, and he wanted to be sure of what he was able to give him before they talked again. Castiel groaned and threw his head back against his pillows. None of this was even remotely what he anticipated when he came back to the States.

***

Dean didn’t tell Sam anything when he got home from his impromptu coffee date with Cas. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to Sam, but Sam was otherwise engaged in a Skype call with his girlfriend back in California. Instead, Dean actually called Charlie, who was overwhelmingly chipper when he told her what happened after he left her office.

Now, as he lay in bed the day after, he was more conflicted than ever. He didn’t sleep at all, his mind just going over everything again and again. At one point, it even helpfully supplied what it could have been like if he and Cas had the opportunity to raise Claire together. He just wanted to dig his finger into his brain and scratch until his life made sense again. He still couldn’t believe he gave Castiel his number. What did he expect to happen, after telling him that their one night stand from a million years ago resulted in another life, who may or may not be serving coffee at the best diner in town. There were a million other things he could have told Cas, but no, he went right to the tiny, life altering factoid. He could have told the alpha that night was the best sex he’d ever had, that it provided fodder for his spank back for years and years after. But no, not Dean Winchester, leave it to him to drop the most dramatic bomb in the history of dramatic bombs. He was as bad as a chick; or the sappy hero in one of his omega romance novels. _Oh great, _he thought to himself, _my life has become like one of my stupid books. Guess that’s how karma works._ He pulled his pillow over his face and groaned into it before throwing himself onto his side to attempt to go to sleep.

Sometime later (Dean wasn’t sure how much later, but it was probably just as he started to fall asleep) Dean was awoken by Sam opening the window blinds, and basically noisily clomping around Dean’s room. “What the fuck, Sam? I’m sleeping!”

“It’s after two in the afternoon, Dean. That’s late even for you. Yesterday must have taken a lot out of you.”

Dean sat up and groggily rubbed his eyes, carefully keeping his sheet tucked around his waist. “What do you know about it?” He snapped.

“Your therapy session, you did still go, didn’t you?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, Sammy, I went. Charlie is a bit of a nut burger.”

“Then she should be perfect for you, Dean.” Sam sat on the edge of the bed. “So, are you ever going to tell me how it went?”

“I tried to yesterday, Sasquatch, but you were too busy making kissy faces with Madison over the internet.”

“Oh, sorry man.” Sam smiled sheepishly.

“How is she anyway?” Dean asked, clearly dodging Sam’s question. He had his chance to hear about Dean’s life, and now the moment had passed and Dean wasn’t about to volunteer anything.

Sam’s smile turned from sheepish to bright. “She’s great. I miss her though.”

Dean took a deep breath and scrubbed his hand over his face. “What are you still doing here then, Sam? The doctors say Bobby may never recover, and I can stay here. Hell, I can write from anywhere, but you, you have a life in California, and you know Bobby would never want you to abandon that. He worked too hard, _we_ worked too hard for you to give everything up now.”

“Yeah, but Dean, it’s not just about Bobby anymore, is it? You’ve always been there for me, now it’s time for me to be there for you.”

“What are you talking about? I’m fine.” Dean crossed his arms over his bare chest defiantly.

“Dean, seriously? This whole Claire issue. Don’t you want to find out if she’s really yours, or if you’re suffering from some latent form of Omega Separation Disorder?”

“You know I hate it when you talk like a shrink, Sam. You’re a lawyer for crying out loud.”

“Look, do you want to know for sure or not? Let me help. I have connections.”

“Sam, just stop. I’ve already decided that I’m going to talk to Jody soon and go from there, ok?”

Sam looked truly surprised, and perhaps a bit affronted. “You’re actually doing something straightforward? How healthy of you.”

“Yes, Sam. My therapist may be a bit of a nut, but she made a good point, ok? Now, can you get out of my room so I can start my day?”

Sam lifted his hands, slid off the bed, and backed his way out of the room. “Ok, ok. Fine. I’m leaving. But you have to finish telling me what else happened yesterday.”

Dean grabbed his pillow and flung it at Sam. Sam closed the door just in time, and it simply bounced off the door and fell to the floor. “How does he know?” Dean mused to himself.

With a world-weary sigh, Dean dragged his ass out of bed and decided to attempt to do the one thing he’d promised himself he would do. He had to talk to Jody Mills.

When Dean made it downstairs, Sam, bless his giant moose like soul, had coffee waiting for Dean. “Whoa, dude, you look spiffy. Who’s the lucky person?” Sam asked.

Dean looked down at what he was wearing. So, he put on his best jeans and a green button down. He was going to talk to the sheriff, he thought he should be presentable. “Shut up Sam, I’m just going out.” Why was he dodging Sam’s question anyway?

Sam just raised an eyebrow at Dean, as if he could read his mind.

“I just want to look presentable when I talk to Jody is all.” Of course, Dean had no intention of going to Gabriel’s to try to run into Cas again. That had nothing to do with anything. Sure, he would probably require pie after such a stressful chat, but that was understandable.

***

Dean was sitting in front of Jody’s desk, waiting for her to get back. One of the deputies told him she was on a call, but invited him to stay and wait, and Dean knew that if he didn’t stay at the police station, if he left and went to do something else, he wasn’t going to come back. As it was, he wasn’t sure how much longer his conviction would hold while he waited.

Just as he was about to give up and go get pie, Jody came strolling into the station. She easily slid into the chair behind her desk before looking up at the man sitting on the other side. “What can I do for you, Dean?”

Dean took a deep breath, rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, and sighed. “I, um, I don’t really know where to start, here Sheriff Mills.”

“Please, call me Jody. And why don’t you start at the beginning?”

Dean chuckled nervously. “Well, Jody, it’s quite possible that we have something very important in common.”

Jody leaned forward, intrigued. “Go on…”

“Shit, this is hard. It’s…it’s about your kid.”

“You’ll have to be more specific there, Dean. Donna and I have four beautiful girls under our roof.”

Dean decided to just lay it all out for her. “It’s about Claire…I-I think she might be mine.” He rushed the last part of his sentence, but judging by Jody’s wide eyed look, she understood every word.

“But omegas don’t do closed adoptions,” was her witty reply. Even though she knew Claire’s birth parents had to be an Alpha and Omega couple.

“I did.” Dean said simply.

Jody’s looked turned sympathetic. “Did you suffer from Omega Separation Disorder?”

“Well, if you’re asking me if I saw a dancing baby like on Ally McBeal, no, I didn’t. Although Sam does think this whole thing,” he waved his hand around in a loose gesture, “is some latent form of it.”

“So, Dean, what is that you’re asking me?” Jody was very no nonsense about the whole thing.

“Well, I just want to find out the truth. Obviously, the social workers are a dead end, with the adoption being closed. So, I was hoping, maybe, we could go to the hospital and have the test done.”

“And what if she isn’t yours? I don’t know how I feel about getting Claire’s hopes up that she can find out about her background only to have them dashed if it’s not true.”

Dean balked at the question. That was the one thing he hadn’t considered. In fact, it never once occurred to him that Claire might _not_ be his.

Before Dean could answer her, Jody spoke up again. “Assuming 

you are Claire’s birth omega, do you even know who the alpha is?” There was no accusation to her question, just curiosity.

Dean chuckled, because he still couldn’t believe everything was culminating here, now. “Actually, it’s Castiel Novak.”

Jody was intrigued, and couldn’t quite keep from sounding like the town gossip. “Is that why he came back to the States? Is that why he left in the first place?”

Dean laughed outright at that. “No and no. See, what he and I had was a one night only sort of situation. He left for family reasons, which I only just found out about when he and I happened to share an elevator yesterday. Why he’s back, well, I’m quite sure it has nothing to do with me or Claire, considering we never exchanged names and he didn’t even know about…this…until yesterday.”

Jody was mildly taken aback by Dean’s complete and unabashed honesty. She recovered quickly. “What, exactly, makes you think that Claire is your kid?”

“Well, her hair is almost the exact same blonde as my mother’s…but mostly, it’s her eyes. I’ve only seen that shade of blue twice before. On Cas and on my baby girl before I handed her over to the social worker.”

“She does have intensely blue eyes. But that doesn’t prove anything.”

Dean rested his hands on Jody’s desk, intertwining his fingers. He dropped his head, and taking a deep breath said quietly, “It’s just a feeling I have Jody, ok?”

“What if Sam’s right and this is just some latent form of Omega Separation Disorder? Do you really expect me to put my daughter through that?”

“Claire is 19, she can make the decision on her own. I could have just gone to her with this, you know.” Dean still hadn’t lifted his head up, and he still spoke quietly, and a little miserably.

“Why didn’t you?”

Dean lifted his head up slowly and looked Jody in the eyes. “Because you’re her mom, and it wouldn’t be right to go behind your back.”

Jody sat back in her chair and considered the omega in front of her. She crossed her arms over her chest and just looked Dean over like she would a suspect in her interrogation room. Jody could tell that he was sincere, that Dean truly believed that Claire was the child he gave up for adoption. What Jody wasn’t sure of was if it actually was a result of Omega Separation Disorder or not. When she and Donna found out that Claire was an alpha, they researched the disorder, since it was so unusual for an omega to request a closed adoption. They were concerned what it could mean for the adoption if the omega changed their mind, even that many years later. Now that Claire was legally an adult, and there was no longer an issue of parental rights, now someone shows up claiming to be her birth omega. Jody didn’t know what to make of the situation. She knew for a fact that Claire was not the reason the Winchester brothers were in Sioux Falls. She called them herself when Bobby Singer got hurt. So for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out Dean’s motivation right now. Jody was pulled from her thoughts when Dean spoke again.

“I don’t want anything from Claire, and I don’t want to diminish your parental rights. You are her mom. I just…I just want to _know_. And if she is mine, I’d like to have some kind of relationship with her, if she wants to, that is.”

Jody steepled her fingers in front of her lips. “What about this alpha? This Castiel? What does he want?”

“I honestly don’t know. Until yesterday, he didn’t even know our ‘coupling’ (he made air quotes) had resulted in a child.”

“And you’re sure it’s him? He’s the alpha who got you pregnant? It was a long time ago.”

“I’m positive.” Dean stated surely.

“Ok, Dean. Here’s my proposition. Let me talk it over with Donna, and if we both agree, we’ll talk to Claire. If, and only if, we all agree, then you and Castiel will be tested. I know you think you’re sure, but this is my child we’re talking about, and I don’t want her to have to wonder about anything. If we decide to do this, we go all the way.”

“That’s fair,” Dean nodded. And he really felt it was. He had no doubt the alpha would agree to the terms as well, even though he didn’t know why.

***

When Jody got home that evening, she walked into a house smelling completely of family, security, and home. Donna was in the kitchen, cooking up a storm, and from the smell of things, Claire was in there with her whipping up dessert. Then there were the sounds: Donna and Claire having a fun and easy conversation as they cooked; Alex, Patience, and Kaia in the dining room doing their homework. This was home, this was family. What would happen to all of this if Dean and Cas turned out to be Claire’s birth parents? Would she lose all of this? Would the other girls demand to know where they came from? Jody leaned against the doorway to the dining room and just basked in the glow of her family, while she still could.

Later that night, after the dishes were cleaned up and the girls had sequestered themselves for the night, Jody finally told Donna what had been plaguing her mind all night. Clearing her throat, Jody said, “So, I had an interesting conversation with Dean Winchester today.”

Donna smiled, beckoning Jody over to the bed so she could wrap her arms around her wife. “Yeah, what kind of conversation?”

Jody let herself relax into her mate’s embrace, and taking a deep breath she said, “He thinks he might be Claire’s birth omega.”

“Really?” Donna asked with a breath of surprise. “How does he know?”

“He says he has a feeling. And of course, he wants us to subject Claire to a blood test.”

Donna shuffled them around on the bed so she could start massaging Jody’s shoulders. “Well, then, why don’t we do that?”

Jody dropped her head and spoke softly. “Because, what if he’s wrong. How can we get Claire’s hopes up like that?”

“But what if he’s right?” Donna asked logically.

“Then we might lose her.”

Donna gave her a gentle, but firm shove. “Jody Anne Mills! I can’t believe you’re even remotely worried about that! Claire is our daughter, no matter where her DNA comes from.”

“I know, I know. I’m just…I’m worried.”

“Jody, we both knew this was coming, sooner or later, in some form or the other. Ever since Claire was 12 years old and she found out she was adopted, she’s been wondering where she comes from. She’s been wondering what kind of omega just puts their kid up for adoption with no interest in where she goes. Claire deserves those answers. We need to do this, for Claire.”

“Ugh. You’re right, aren’t you?” Jody asked with a groan as she dropped down onto her pillows.

“You’re darn tootin’!”

“Fine. We’ll talk to Claire in the morning.”

***

After his conversation with Jody, Dean decided he really needed a drink, or pie. He decided on pie. He’d been sitting in the booth in the corner for hours, some random waitress serving him cup after cup of coffee, and multiple slices of pie. He sat there until he watched Claire leave for the day. He sat there until he saw Gabriel leave for the day. He sat there until his waitress turned his table over to another with a heavy sigh and a roll of her eyes. He refused to admit to himself why he was just sitting there. He didn’t want to admit he was waiting for Cas. The next move was up to the alpha; after all, he didn’t give Dean his number.

Just as Dean was getting ready to leave, throwing plenty of cash on the table so his two 

waitresses could split the tip, in walked the alpha he hadn’t ever really stopped thinking about for 20 years. It was like his blue eyes zeroed right in on Dean’s green ones, and he smiled.

“Hello, Dean.” He walked right over to the booth. “Were you getting ready to leave?”

“Um, yeah, I should get home.”

“Oh. I was hoping to run into you. Gabriel had the car, so I had to wait until he got home to come into town.”

Dean just crossed his arms and stared at him, as if to say, “You could have called.”

Cas just continued to ramble on. “I know I could have called, but, well…” He held up his hand, showing how Dean’s number had gotten smudged. “I fell asleep on the sofa and Gabriel’s corgi thought my hand was his doggy treat.”

Dean started laughing, which quickly became a cackle, and before he knew it, he was wheezing for breath. “Oh my God, Cas, I haven’t laughed that hard since…I don’t know when.” He gestured to the booth and they sat down across from each other. Once they were seated, Dean pulled his phone out. “Ok, what’s your phone number?”

Cas rattled off a series of numbers, and Dean punched them into his phone. He then hit another series of buttons, and Cas’s phone chimed with a text message from Dean.

“Now, hopefully, Gabe’s corgi won’t eat it this time.” Dean said, still trying to stifle his chuckling.

“I would hope not,” Cas said.

When the exasperated waitress came by again, this time they both ordered real meals, and despite still sitting at the table, Dean shoved the cash he was planning to leave into the young lady’s hands, asking her to share it with the other girl. Once they placed their orders, Cas sat back with a sigh.

“Dean, I wasn’t totally honest with you. I wasn’t actually planning on coming to town today, but Gabriel suggested that I should. He may or may not have indicated that you had been sitting here most of the day and that this is not your usual table. So, I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t been waiting for me all day.”

Dean blew out a huff of air. “What if I was?”

“Dean….”

“Cool your jets, Cas,” Dean said, trying not to be offended by the implication, unfortunately his scent was shifting to give him away, the whiskey in his scent becoming sharper. “It’s not what you think. I spoke to Jody Mills today. She said that if Claire does decide to have any kind of DNA testing done, she wants both of us there, to avoid any questions. Apparently, she didn’t believe me when I said I was sure you were the alpha in question….Do you even believe me, Cas?”

“Of course I do, Dean.”

“Then why did you act offended at the idea that I was waiting here for you all day?”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Dean.”

“Nothing. I don’t want anything from anybody. Goodbye, Cas.” Dean tossed his napkin on the table and walked out, fully aware that the ginger and whiskey in his scent was overcoming the sweet apple, giving away how upset his was. Nothing was going his way today, and he didn’t know what to do about it. He was sick of everyone treating him like a fragile omega with a mental disorder. All he wanted was to get to the truth. If Claire wasn’t his kid, then he’d move on, and go back to focusing on what brought him to Sioux Falls in the first place, taking care of Bobby.

***

Castiel just stared at the other side of the booth, completely lost as to what just happened and wrinkling his nose at the clear evidence of how upset he’d just made Dean. He had wanted to invite Dean out on a real date, get to know him, but instead he said the wrong thing and upset the omega. Maybe Gabriel was right, spending so much time out of the country taking pictures of wildlife _had_ made his people skills rusty. He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. Of course, the waitress chose that exact moment to drop of the meals that he and Dean had ordered.

***

Dean skulked into the house carrying a six pack of beer and an extra-large pizza. He ignored Sam, who for once, was not actually on Skype with Madison. When Sam did try to get his brother’s attention, Dean just growled at him and made his way up to his room without further commentary. He was sick of everything and everybody.

Just as he settled on his bed and scooped up his first gooey, cheesy, meaty slice of heaven, Dean’s phone chimed with a text message. Unwilling to stop just moments away from his first bite, Dean chomped down on the slice of pizza, burning the roof of his mouth in the process. “Fucking hell!” He cursed. Of course, this was his life now. Taking a swig of beer to cool his burning mouth, Dean picked up his phone to see a text message from Cas of all people. He sighed and unlocked his phone, curious how else the alpha could annoy him tonight.

_Cas: Dean, I’m so sorry that I upset you at the diner. I’m still a little thrown by the news, and I could have handled it better. _

Dean studied his phone for several minutes trying to formulate a response. He could give the alpha the benefit of the doubt. After all, Dean had two decades to come to terms with the fact that he had a child out there, poor Cas had barely 24 hours.

_Me: I guess it was a shock._

_Cas: Can we start over?_

Dean was a bit taken aback by the question. He didn’t know what to make of it. Weren’t they already starting over?

_Me: ???_

_Cas: I’d like to take you on a date. Somewhere besides Gabriel’s. I’d just like to get to know you, Dean._

_Me: Ok, Cas. Take me on a date._

Dean wasn’t sure why he was so quick to agree, but he couldn’t deny the pull towards the alpha.

_Cas: Are you free tomorrow?_

_Me: I’m a writer, I’m always free._

_Cas: Very well. May I pick you up, or would you prefer to meet somewhere?_

_Me: Sure Cas, you can pick me up. Singer Salvage Yard, the big blue house at the back of the property. _

Dean couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Cas was being so formal and polite asking Dean if he could pick him up. It was very unusual for Dean to not take his own vehicle on dates, but Castiel was different, somehow.

_Cas: Excellent. I’ll be there around 1._

_Me: So this is a lunch date?_

_Cas: That may perhaps lead to dinner?_

_Me: We’ll see. See you tomorrow, Cas._

_Cas: Good night, Dean._


	7. Seven

The next day, Dean had almost every item of clothing pulled out of his closet, trying to decide what to wear. It wasn’t like him to be nervous on dates, so he was completely thrown out of his comfort zone, being nervous about this one. He was glad Sam was out of the house today, he was not ready to tell his brother what was going on. He could even smell the stink of his own nerves, the ginger in his personal scent ballooning until it was noticeable to even him.

Realizing that he had no idea where Cas was planning to take him, except to “not Gabriel’s,” Dean had no idea how to dress appropriately. It’s not as if he had much in the way of formal or dress attire, and most of that he left back in California. Eventually, he settled on a snug pair of stone washed jeans that hugged his rear, one of his least ratty band tee shirts, and a green and black flannel. He knew green was always a good choice, he’d been told several times it brought out his verdant green eyes.

After putting a touch of gel in his short spiky hair, he looked around the disaster his room had now become. It looked like a bomb went off in his closet, and he knew he’d never be able to properly focus on his date if he knew his room looked like this, so he quickly started putting everything away. The act of putting his clothes away helped to dissipate his nerves until he was back to feeling like himself again. He could do this, it was just a date, even if it was with the alpha that he’d dreamed about for half of his life. Just as he hung up his last flannel shirt, the doorbell rang. He clambered down the stairs and threw the door open to find Cas wearing that same outfit from that night so long ago, the snug dark wash jeans, the same leather jacket; he looked perfect. Moreover, he smelled perfect and Dean tried to hide his first inhale of the alpha’s scent. The notes of bergamot were particularly warm tonight.

“Cas,” Dean said on a breathy exhale.

“Hello, Dean.” He smiled cheekily, well aware of the effect he was having on the omega.

“You look…wow,” Dean said intelligently.

“You look rather stunning yourself. Shall we?” Cas gestured towards the driveway, where instead of the Pimpmobile Dean had been expecting, there was a large, beautiful Harley Davidson motorcycle. It was black with metallic blue and silver accents, and sported black leather saddlebags draped over the sides.

Dean walked towards the bike as if drawn by a magnet. He ran his hands over it reverently. “Wow, Cas, this is…wow…”

Cas was beaming. “You like it? It’s a rental, but I’m considering purchasing it. I haven’t ridden in a while, not since Thailand. The best way to get around Bangkok is on a motorcycle.”

“It’s a beauty, Cas.” Dean suddenly looked down at his feet and got a little quiet. “But, um, well, I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before.”

Cas chuckled. “There’s nothing to it, Dean. Just wrap your arms around me and hold on tight.” He winked at the omega, and Dean was thrilled to see a hint of that alpha bravado he’d spent nights dreaming about.

Dean gulped. “Yeah, Cas, yeah. I think I can handle that.”

“Great, then let’s go.” He swung his leg gracefully over the machine and beckoned Dean to join him. Cas handed Dean a helmet then strapped on one of his own before starting up the bike and peeling out of the salvage yard, Dean clinging on to him for dear life.

Things were going better than Castiel could have even imagined, his hog under him and his omega wrapped around him. Even through the full face helmet, he could still indulge in Dean’s scent of apple whiskey, ginger, and old books enticing him around the edges. If Cas would have had the sense to properly woo Dean, he imagined this is how he would have done it; in close quarters, on the open road.

They rode around the winding back roads of Sioux Falls. Every time Cas would take a corner a little too fast, Dean would hold on tighter, so he made a point of taking the corners perhaps a bit faster than he should have, but it was glorious. He slowed down when they drove through down town. He really wanted to show off his beautiful ride and his beautiful date, but soon realized that with their helmets on, no one would know who was on the motorcycle. Of course, that didn’t really matter to Cas, he was just happy to be in this particular situation on this particular day.

After riding around for a while, they eventually arrived at their destination, a tiny park surrounding a tiny lake. Cas pulled the bike up right next to the lake. “Ok, Dean, you can open your eyes now.” He chuckled as the omega very slowly and reluctantly removed his arms from around his waist and pulled off his helmet.

Dean looked around and said in awe, “Wow, Cas. This place is beautiful.”

“Isn’t it? Gabriel told me about this little hide away. He said it would be romantic.”

“I can see why. This is fantastic.”

“Shall we have a picnic then?” Cas asked as he swung off the bike, helping Dean off as well.

“Um, Cas, you didn’t bring a picnic basket.”

“Or did I?” Cas winked at him and opened one of the saddle bags, pulling out a blanket and a bottle of wine and two glasses. He spread the blanket out close to the lake, setting the wine and glasses down in the middle. “Why don’t you have a seat and pour the wine?” He said to Dean as he made his way to the other saddle bag, where he pulled out a small cooler. He settled next to Dean on the blanket, showing off the cooler. “So, it’s not a picnic basket, but I think it will work.”

Dean smiled brightly at him, and it was breath taking. Cas knew he’d made the right decision. “You really thought this through, huh?”

“I did indeed,” Cas said as he opened the cooler and pulled out chicken salad sandwiches, potato chips, and two slices of pie. “You’ll have to forgive me, the food is from Gabriel’s. He makes the best chicken salad, and I’ve been told you’re quite a fan of the apple pie.”

Dean nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, the apple pie is really great.” He handed Cas a glass of the wine he’d poured.

After a few minutes spent in comfortable silence, eating sandwiches and drinking wine, Dean spoke up again. “So, Cas, there’s something I’ve been curious about…”

“Yes, Dean? You know you can ask me anything.”

“What was so bad about that arranged mating that made you run away to the other side of the world?”

Cas laughed. “You really want to know that? You do realize that if I had gone through with that, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

Dean shrugged. “Yeah, I know. Doesn’t mean I’m not curious.”

Cas started telling his story without preamble. “According to my parents, 

she was a perfectly lovely beta from a good family that they wanted to do business with. Basically, I felt like a bargaining chip for my parents’ business venture. I’d never met her, I don’t even remember what her name was. But the biggest thing was that she was a beta, and I have only ever been interested in omegas. Maybe I should have met her and given her a chance, but I knew it would never really go anywhere, so I ran.”

“Well, I can’t say that I’m upset that you did. But don’t you miss your family?” Dean looked genuinely concerned.

It was Cas’s turn to shrug. “No, not really. The only one I ever really got along with anyway was Gabriel, and when I started to really miss him, I came here.”

They dropped into a comfortable silence once again. Cas couldn’t help but stare at Dean, the way he was lounging on their picnic blanket, the sun shining in his hair, making it look more red than brown, the lake behind him. It was simply breath taking. Eventually, Dean noticed him staring.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Cas?” He dropped his head and blushed slightly, accentuating his freckles. Cas could not stop staring.

“Because, Dean, you are simply beautiful. I would love to take your photograph.”

“Too bad you don’t have your camera.” Dean smirked.

Cas smirked back. “Who says I don’t have it?” He went back to the bike and reached into the same saddle bag that once held the blanket and wine and pulled out his professional grade camera. He returned to the blanket and crouched down, aiming the lens at Dean. “I won’t do this if it makes you uncomfortable.”

***

Dean’s eyes grew wide, and he was sure he must have resembled a deer caught in headlights when Cas pulled his camera out of that bag. He was just glad he managed to compose himself by the time Cas turned back to him. Dean’s first instinct was to hide from the camera, but when he had the camera pointed in his direction, and asked for permission, well, Dean almost didn’t have the heart to turn him down. When Cas gave him that earnest look, he just couldn’t say no.

“Go ahead, Cas. But I won’t be held responsible if it breaks your camera.” Of course he couldn’t control making a self-deprecating joke.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Dean. You’re stunning. Thank you for indulging me, I promise it won’t hurt.”

As Cas starting taking pictures, Dean couldn’t help but relax. Between Cas’s soothing voice telling him how stunning he was, and emitting that delicious pleased alpha scent, Dean just rolled with it.

They must have spent an hour like that, Dean lounging on the ground and Cas taking pictures of him. Occasionally Cas would give him some sort of direction, but more often than not, he’d physically adjust Dean to where he wanted him, tilting his head this way and that, crossing and uncrossing his legs, things like that. Dean was eating it up. He expected to feel uncomfortable being the center of someone’s attention like that. But being the center of Castiel’s attention, well, Dean thought there was nothing better.

***

Reluctantly, Castiel pulled the camera away from his face. He could easily spend forever taking pictures of Dean Winchester, but he had other plans for the rest of their date, and they were on a schedule.

“Thank you, Dean,” he said sincerely.

Blushing and rubbing the back of his neck, Dean said, “Why are you thanking me? You did all the work.”

“But you let me, so thank you.”

“So, we’re done now?” Dean asked.

“With this, yes, but I do have something else on the agenda for us,” Cas said mysteriously.

“Ok. What’s next?”

“It’s a surprise,” Cas said. “Let’s get everything packed up and head back into town.”

Cas and Dean picked up all of their picnic supplies and detritus and stored everything back into the saddle bags on the motorcycle. Then they mounted it, Cas making sure Dean put his helmet on before fastening his own into place. When they zoomed off, Cas noticed Dean holding him even tighter this time around.

They zoomed back into town and headed towards the university. When they dismounted and removed their helmets, Dean looked around in confusion. “Where are we, Cas?”

Cas smiled at him. “We’re at the planetarium. Come on.” Excitedly, he grabbed Dean’s hand and led him into the building.

The space was entirely empty. They were the only people around. “Whoa, Cas, how did you pull this off?”

“Gabriel is good friends with Chuck Shurley, the head of the astronomy department.” He took Dean by the hand again and led him to the center of the room, where they settled onto conveniently placed bean bag chairs. “Watch this,” he said as he pointed a remote at the sky.

The ceiling filled with stars, constellations dancing around. Dean sucked in an awed breath. Cas continued to speak. “This is what the stars looked like in Palo Alto that night.”

Dean turned to look at him. “How do you know?”

Cas blushed. “Well, you can set the program to a certain time and place. But I do remember those stars.”

“How? With all the light pollution in that city, you can barely see the stars.”

Cas leaned over and whispered in Dean’s ear, “Remember when I fucked you against that big window? I could see that bright star over there.” He pointed right above their heads.

Dean blushed, to Cas’s delight. “Yeah, I remember,” he mumbled and blushed harder.

Cas boldly draped his arm around Dean’s shoulders before pointing the remote back at the ceiling. “That’s how the sky looked the night after, in Tibet. I was camping on the side of a mountain, staring at the sky, and all I could think about was you. I wondered what you were up to, if you were thinking about me too…” He let his words drift off as he and Dean continued to stare at the sky.

Dean took a deep breath and said in a rush, “I don’t think I ever stopped thinking about you, Cas.”

That was all he needed to hear. Cas leaned in and just touched his lips to Dean’s. Dean leaned in and kissed him back. Before long, they were making out under the synthetic night sky as soft strains of music drifted around them.


	8. Eight

Claire sat in a swing in her back yard. Sometimes it made her chuckle, she and her sisters were all teenagers now, not really prone to using the swing set, but her moms never could bring themselves to remove the equipment. Today, though, she wasn’t chuckling. She kicked the ground with the toe of one of her Chucks, staring at the ground. It had been three days since her moms told her that someone claiming to be her birth omega was in town, that he wanted a DNA test to prove that she was his kid. Her parents were leaving the decision up to her, and would respect her wishes. The problem was, Claire didn’t know what she wanted to do.

As she swung, the scent of blueberries, graham crackers and a hint of brandy blew by on a breeze and she smiled to herself, knowing who it was before they even got close. She tore her blue eyes from the ground when the sound of the fence gate opening drew her out of her thoughts. Claire couldn’t stop the smile when she saw Kevin Tran striding across the yard. He sat down in the swing next to hers. They just sat there, swinging in silence for several minutes before anyone said a word.

“So, what’s going on?” Kevin finally asked.

“Nothing.” Claire responded.

“Liar. Something’s on your mind. I can always tell.” Kevin nudged her with his shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, Claire finally spoke up. “My birth omega might be here, in town, and he wants me to take a blood test.”

Kevin’s eyes got huge at the news. “That’s fantastic, Claire! When are you going to do it?”

“I-I don’t know. I haven’t even decided if I’m going to do it.”

“Why not? This something you’ve been wanting since you were 12 years old.”

Claire smiled wistfully at that. After a few beats of silence, she chuckled a bit. “Remember when I found out I was adopted? That day I presented as alpha?” She pointed to a spot in the grass, “I had you pinned down over there. If it wasn’t for Alex screaming for Mom, I might have claimed you then and there.”

Kevin blushed and stared at his feet. “Yeah, I remember. Boy, was my mom livid.”

“Yeah, you weren’t allowed to come over for like, weeks.”

“I hadn’t even presented yet, even though I’m older than you. But somehow, you just…knew.”

Claire shrugged. “Instinct, I guess.”

Kevin took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Yeah, somethings are just meant to be, I guess.” Then he rose from his seat on the swings and looked down at her. “And maybe this is one of those things. You should have the test done.” With that, he blew her a kiss and disappeared back through the fence gate to his own backyard.

***

Dean and Cas had been out every night for a week. Motorcycle rides, movies, the fair, they went everywhere…except back to Gabriel’s. Tonight, Dean decided to stay in and cook dinner for Cas. He was going to introduce Cas to his cooking and to his favorite movie. Dean couldn’t remember the last time he cooked for a date, he never really liked anyone enough to share that with before. He’d managed to convince Sam to fly back to California for the weekend to spend time with Madison, so he had Bobby’s house to himself. Dean tried not to think about the significance of bringing the man he was dating to the home he grew up in.

When Dean was grocery shopping, it occurred to him that he didn’t know what Cas might like to eat. He couldn’t really bring himself to text the alpha and ask him, either. So, he went with one of his fail safe meals, herb roasted chicken with vegetables and a baked potato. It was Sam’s favorite meal, so Dean knew it had to be good, his brother was nothing if not a super picky eater.

The house was filled with the scents of home cooking and content omega. When the doorbell rang, Dean (totally didn’t) rush to answer it. He flung the door open and smiled brightly at his alpha. “Hey, Cas.” He drew in his first breath that was filled with the scent of Cas and savored it.

“Hello, Dean.” As he stepped in the door, his nose twitched as he took in all the scents. “It smells amazing Dean.”

Dean blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks, Cas. Um, dinner will be ready soon, can I get you something to drink?”

“A beer would be great, thanks,” Cas said as he followed Dean into the kitchen.

Dean grabbed them each one and they sat down at the kitchen bar. They shared a comfortable silence until the timer went off and Dean gestured for Cas to sit down at the elegantly set table. As they ate, they made small talk about their days and the movies Dean wanted to introduce Cas to. It wasn’t a fancy affair but it was comfortable, which was one of the things that made their budding relationship so stellar. Dean didn’t have to overthink things or worry about keeping up a dating persona; Cas seemed to like him just the way he was.

When they finished eating, Dean led Cas to the couch by the hand. “So I’m thinking Roadhouse. Swayze always gets a pass.” He shot a glance over his shoulder to check to see if Cas was in agreement.

Luckily, he was nodding right along. “I haven’t seen it.”

“Oh man, you’re going to love it!” Dean enthused as he nudged Cas to sit on the couch and headed for the DVD player. “It’s got…” He’s cut off by his phone ringing. It broke his stride and he reached for his pocket but fumbled it a little as he pulled it out. “I wonder who that is.” He looked at the screen but didn’t recognize the number.

“Go ahead and answer it.” Cas said as he sank into the cushions of the couch, seemingly unconcerned.

Dean frowned at the phone but swiped to answer. “Hello?”

“Dean Winchester?” A familiar female voice asked.

Dean tensed up all over. “Jody… hi!” He glanced to Cas who was now sitting up straight and looking at him with a frown on his face. Dean shook his head. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” He tried to sound nonchalant, as if his heart wasn’t racing, as if he couldn’t hear his heart beat pounding in his ears.

“I’m calling about the conversation we had the other day in my office.” Jody said, all business.

Dean could smell the notes of ginger ballooning in his scent as his nerves tried to take over. “What… what did you decide?” Cas leaned over and grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the couch. He let himself sink down onto the cushions next to the alpha but he didn’t relax. He sat there, ramrod straight as he listened intently, holding onto Cas’s hand with a death grip.

“I talked it over with my mate and we have agreed that we should do this.”

Dean’s breath whooshed out all at once. He didn’t even realize he was holding it.

“But!” Jody cut in again before he could say anything. “You do this our way. No contact with Claire before the results come back. I’ve made an appointment for you and Cas to come to the hospital for testing at a different time than Claire goes. If it comes back and you aren’t her parents, you do NOT tell her. Do you understand?” She was deathly serious and it gave Dean chills. He knew better than to cross Jody Mills.

“Yes, Jody, of course. We don’t need to upset Claire if it’s not… if I’m not her birth omega. I just need to know. If I am though, can we tell her?”

“You can.” Jody said, her tone of voice lightening. “Claire wants to know. She’s always wanted to know, ever since she found out she was adopted. I won’t keep you from that. But be prepared Mister, she’s going to want an explanation why she was given up.”

“I… that’s understandable. I have it. I… thought I was doing the best thing for her. The me back then…I wasn’t ready. I would have been a terrible parent.”

Jody chuckled softly. “It’s not me you have to convince. It’s Claire. And that’s only if you are her birth omega. Let’s wait for the testing.”

“Okay.” Dean agreed. He glanced at Cas, who was still looking at him with some concern. The alpha’s hands were running up and down his back. “When do we go?”

“I’ve made the appointment for the two of you next Tuesday at 10:00 AM. You just go to the front desk and check in. Got it?”

Dean reached blindly for a pen and a piece of paper on his coffee table and scribbled it down. ”Got it. We’ll be there. And Jody… thanks for this.”

There was a sigh across the line. “Don’t thank me. Thank Donna.”

“You got it. I’ll send her flowers or something.”

“Hey now! That’s my mate.” Jody said it with laughter.

“I know and I’ve got my own alpha so no worries.” Dean glanced at Cas quickly but Cas just smiled at him encouragingly.

“Glad to hear it. You have a good night, Dean.”

“Thanks. You too.” Dean hung up. He sagged back into the couch and let his phone fall into his lap. “She said we could do the testing. To find out about Claire.”

“Oh.” Whatever Cas thought about this was hidden behind his neutral expression but his scent warmed a little bit. He drew a deep breath, clearly scenting Dean. “You… I can’t tell how you feel about that.”

“I… guess I don’t know. I’ve wanted it for so long… ever since I first saw Claire. It’s hard to believe it’s happening.” Dean ran his hand over his face before he looked at Cas. “You’re okay with it, aren’t you?”

“I think I am.” Cas said very slowly, blinking with what seemed to be surprise. “I wasn’t sure I would be when you told me about it. But I think I am. I want to know too.” He squeezed Dean’s hand, which he was still holding. “If Claire is ours then we can be proud of that. We made something beautiful together.”

“Yeah.” Dean slowly began to smile. “You’re right, we did.”

Cas squeezed Dean’s hand again then a sudden mischievous smile crossed his face. “So what’s this about having your own alpha? Should I be jealous?” His blue eyes twinkled with mirth as he leaned in to try to kiss Dean.

Dean met his lips for a minute before shoving his face away. “Shut up and watch the movie.”


	9. Nine

By Tuesday, when the appointed day came, Dean was feeling the nerves a little bit, even if he knew that he wasn’t going to have to face Claire. Still, the morning of the testing he was filled with excitement. He was sure Claire was his pup; something inside of him said so and he trusted that inner voice. Besides, she had Cas’s eyes and that couldn’t be denied. He was staring into the identical pair of eyes as he shook Cas awake. “Come on, Alpha. Up and at ‘em.”

Cas blinked sleepily at him and glanced over at the clock. “Dean, it’s five in the morning. The sun hasn’t risen yet.” A thread of annoyance entered into the alpha’s scent, opening up the earthy notes, but Dean ignored it as he climbed on top of Cas’s body and straddled him, sheet and comforter still between them.

“I know it’s early but I couldn’t sleep a wink more. Let’s go downstairs and get breakfast.”

Cas sighed and rolled his eyes, well aware that Dean could see him even in the low light of the bedside lamp. “The test isn’t for five more hours. We could sleep in a little more and still make it on time.” His voice, a low rumble, was reasonable.

Dean hated that he was right and knew that the energy was his own. His alpha didn’t seem to have as much of himself dedicated to what the testing meant. “I’m sorry. I’ll let you sleep.” He rolled off of Cas and switched the bedroom lamp back off, his shoulders slumping.

“Dean… don’t be upset.” Cas had appropriately read his dejection and reached out to grab Dean’s wrist. “If it’s that important to you, I’ll get up.”

“I’m being unreasonable. I’m just so excited. I’ve waited for this and wished for this and it’s finally happening.” Dean let himself be pulled back towards the bed.

Cas sat up, then tugged Dean down until he sat on the bed. Once there, he combed his fingers through Dean’s hair. “I understand how much this means to you. I share it with you, I promise. It’s just… this is the first step. We don’t even really know if she’s ours. Not for sure.”

“I’m sure, Cas.”

Cas tilted Dean’s head down, leaning up to press against his forehead. “I know. Let’s go eat.”

***

Hours later, Dean was practically bouncing on his toes as they made their way up the steps of the hospital and into the lobby. He went straight to the front desk. “I’m Dean Winchester and this is Castiel Novak. We have an appointment at the lab at 10:00 this morning.”

The bored receptionist punched something into her keyboard and squinted at her computer screen. “Go up to the third floor. It’s straight down the hallway on the left. There are big signs that say Lab. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks!” Dean turned around and practically ran into Jody Mills, who was wearing her uniform and standing directly behind them.

“Watch out, Winchester.” She mused as she took a careful step back. “You look excited.”

“I am a little bit. Was Claire’s test okay?” Dean couldn’t help but ask.

Jody looked at him for a long moment before answering. It was clear she hadn’t made up her mind about him. “It was fine. Claire’s strong and it’s an easy test. No blood at all.”

Dean breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I hate needles. Look, it’s good to see you, but I don’t want to be late.”

Jody smiled at that, her features warming. “By all means.” She waved him towards the elevator and let them pass her by. She was still watching the pair of them as the elevator doors closed.

“A cautious woman.” Cas mused as the elevator took them up.

“I don’t blame her. She’s Claire’s mom. It’s her job to look out for her and this… it might hurt Claire.” Dean sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “I hope it doesn’t.”

“I expect she’ll feel some upheaval but Dean, Jody said she wanted to know. If that’s the case then she can handle it.”

“I hope you are right.”

The elevator opened and they followed the hall to the lab. The testing was easy, just a swab to the cheek for each of them and they were told it would take about a week since they had to send the samples out to another lab. With that, they stepped back out of the lab and into the hall.

Dean paused, glancing at Cas before rubbing the back of his neck, this time feeling the nerves rise up again for another reason entirely.

“What’s wrong, Dean?” It seemed Cas was a bloody expert on reading the cues of Dean’s body language and his scent.

Dean turned towards Cas and looked up into eyes that were blue and concerned. He sighed, knowing that he couldn’t really lie to Cas and shrug it off. “While we are here… would you like to go meet Bobby?”

A smile split Cas’s face, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I would love to.”

“Come on then.” Dean took Cas’s hand and led him back to the elevator. There, he punched the button for the fifth floor and soon they came out in the ward for long term patients. Dean knew the way by heart and soon they were standing outside Bobby’s room. “There’s a lot of machines and stuff. Don’t worry, they promise me he’s stable, just in a coma.”

“I understand.” Cas said gravely. He squeezed Dean’s hand and they walked through the door.

Bobby lay in the center of the bed, head rested on a pillow. He wasn’t wearing his usual hat and his thinning hair was clear for all to see. Otherwise, he looked like himself, with the notable exception of the breathing tube. There were monitors for heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen level all present so wires ran from the bed. The covers were tucked neatly up to his chest and his hands rested by his sides. Dean’s heart always hurt to see it; however, he approached the bed as he always did.

“Hey Bobby, it’s me again. I hope you’re okay in there.” He reached out and smoothed a hand over the top of Bobby’s head, something he would have never done if Bobby was awake. “I…ah… brought someone to meet you. Um, he’s someone I knew from a long time ago and we reconnected and have become important to one another.” He glanced at Cas, who was standing behind him. Cas nodded, offering reassurance, so Dean went on. “This is Castiel Novak. I call him Cas. He’s an alpha. He’s… my alpha. I thought you’d like to know.”

Cas stepped up beside Dean at the bedside, looking hesitantly at Bobby’s form.

Dean touched his hand. “It’s okay. The nurses say it’s good to talk to him. Go ahead.”

“Hello, Bobby.” Cas said, looking up at the older alpha’s face. “Like Dean said, I’m Castiel. Dean and I knew each other briefly a long time ago. Now that I know him better, I wish we’d taken the time back then to get to know each other better.”

Dean nudged Cas’s shoulder. “Sap.”

“It’s true. Maybe though, we weren’t ready for each other then. We are now. I’m grateful.” Cas reached over to touch Dean’s cheek, his fingers tender against Dean’s skin.

“Me too, Cas.” Dean smiled and leaned into Cas’s hand, soaking up the moment before he pulled himself out of it. “Anyway. I came to tell you about the shit Sam pulled the other night. You will not believe this!” Grinning, Dean pulled up a chair and sat down next to Bobby’s bed and proceeded to tell him all about it, feeling for all the world as if he was more complete because Cas was there with him.


	10. Ten

By the time a week had passed, Dean’s nerves were at an all time high. It seemed like his anxiety about the test increased with every day that went by; he was short and snappish with Sam and even with Cas. He wasn’t sleeping well at night and was cleaning the house as if it were his new religion. Places that hadn’t been touched in years now gleamed with cleanliness. Tuesday, which was a week exactly from the test date came and went with no results arriving. Now it was Thursday and Dean was fit to burst.

He’d started the morning on his own because Cas had gotten disgusted with his short temper and had gone home to let Dean ‘cool off’. Dean had spent the next three hours grumbling that he didn’t need to cool off while he cleaned the grout in the bathroom with a tooth brush and finally admitted to himself that he was going out of his mind. Still, if Cas needed space, Dean could give that to him. He’d not called or texted all through the evening and night and was congratulating himself on his control. Of course, it was another day and he really regretted driving Cas off. If nothing else, then the alpha was the one person who he could talk to about this.

Looking at his phone, Dean sighed and wrote a text.

_Me: Look, I’m sorry I’ve been impossible to deal with lately. I didn’t mean to drive you off. _

_Cas: It’s okay Dean. I’m nervous too and shouldn’t have been short with you last night. It only made me miss you. _

_Me: I miss you too. Come over?_

_Cas: Are you still nervous?_

_Me: Yes. I can’t help it. This is taking so long. _

_Cas: Maybe I can help._

_Me: Come over._

_Cas: On the way. _

Dean chuckled because Cas never used texting shorthand such as otw and admitted he didn’t know what phrases such as that meant. Now that he knew Cas was coming, Dean got up to make another pot of coffee so it would be fresh when his alpha arrived. After that, he puttered around the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher until he heard the sound of Cas’s old car pull up outside. His smile widened when he heard the door close and the sound of another pair of feet on the old floors of Bobby’s house. “In here, Cas!” He called and turned towards the door.

What Dean was expecting was to find Cas there, looking his usual amount of disheveled and maybe smiling ruefully about their little tiff. What he found instead was a pair of blue eyes that blazed with heat when they laid on him. “Cas?”

The alpha didn’t answer, instead he pushed Dean up against the kitchen counter, slamming their bodies together before his lips crushed down onto Dean’s. A wave of heat flashed over Dean’s skin so quickly it made him shiver as he clutched at the alpha’s shoulders. He was given no time to ask questions; instead Cas’s tongue teased at his lips begging entrance and Dean was helpless but to comply. The moment he did, his mouth was all but conquered. The sound Dean made was nothing short of a whimper as he tried to shuffle himself closer to Cas’s body. He didn’t know what had gotten into Cas but he certainly liked it.

Unfortunately, they both had to come up for air at some point and when Cas ripped away, breaths heaving, Dean finally got a word in. “What? Not that I’m complaining but what’s all this.”

“My new distraction technique. We’ve been spending too much time talking and not enough time being intimate. I’m going to fix that. If you agree, of course.” Cas still looked a little wild around the edges but asking for consent, that was his alpha emerging pure and clear.

“Ah… yes…agree. Have at me.” Dean’s heart was still hammering in his chest and his hands shook with the sheer amount of turned on he was in this moment. That was until Cas dropped down to his knees in front of him.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Cas reached for the fly of Dean’s pants and Dean willfully let his alpha turn his brain 

to mush.

***

Later that day, Dean was standing at the kitchen window, whistling tunelessly to himself as he rinsed the lunch dishes. His body was loose, and he felt as if he didn’t have a care in this world. Of course, that’s when he saw the mail truck pull up and deliver the day’s mail. Tension began to enter his spine again and while he hated to ruin all of Cas’s hard work, he had to run straight out to the mailbox the moment the truck pulled away. He pulled out a handful of letters, mostly bills; however one on the stack was from a laboratory company. Suddenly his heart was racing.

He barreled through the kitchen door, shouting, “Cas! Cas! It’s here!” With trembling hands he tore open the envelope just as Cas came around the kitchen door from the living room.

“What does it say?” Cas crossed the space and took position behind Dean to read over his shoulder.

Dean withdrew two pieces of paper. He unfolded them carefully which was hard with how much his hands were shaking. He read the contents fully and his breath whooshed out of him. “It’s a match. Cas! I’m her omega! I was right!”

“What about me?” Cas grabbed the papers out of Dean’s hand and switched the pages so he could read the next one. “Me too. I’m a match. We’re her biological parents.” He looked up, grinning.

Dean felt that smile all the way to his core and knew it was shared on his own face. “I knew it. She’s our pup.” He threw himself into Cas’s arms.

Cas caught him and held him tightly. They stood like that for a long time just squeezing each other there in the kitchen.

Finally, Dean pulled back. “Jody, I have to call Jody.” He drew his phone from his pocket when it rang. “Speak of the devil…” He answered it. “Hey Jody.”

“Dean, hello. I won’t mince around. Claire got her results today.” It was hard to get a read on just her voice.

“We got them too. We’re a match.” Dean said, trying to hold down his own joy to have a serious conversation with Claire’s actual mom.

“I’m sure you want to meet up with her and that can happen, as we promised. Donna and I want to be there. We were thinking this Saturday at our house. You and Cas can come over. I’ve checked with Claire and she’s not working. It should be fine.”

“Saturday is good with me.” Dean looked up at Cas, who simply nodded. “It’s good for Cas too. We’ll be there.”

“Good.” Jody said, all business as usual. “I’ll text you a time when we decide on it.”

“Sure, thanks Jody.”

“And Dean, just remember that she’s our little girl.” Jody said, her voice soft.

“I won’t forget.” Dean promised, his heart clenching. “I’m just the birth omega. You’re her mom. You and Donna are her real parents. We know that.”

“Thank you, Dean.” She hung up.

Dean looked at Cas and fell into his arms once more, no longer sure about how he felt about all of this.

***

Claire met the mailman at the mailbox the day her results came. She didn’t even notice which one it was when she shoved the rest of mail at her mom. Moving through the room in a daze, she sat numbly on the sofa and opened the envelope with barely steady hands. (She could credit her cake decorator training for keeping her hands so still.) She didn’t notice when Jody sat on the coffee table in front of her or when Donna slid in next to her. Claire pulled out the paper inside and stared at it for several heartbeats before her blue eyes read over the page.

“Well, what’s it say?” Donna’s voice was suddenly in her ear.

Claire shrugged nonchalantly. “Those two weird guys, they made me.” It was all she said before shoving the paperwork at Jody and slipping out of the house.

She climbed into her powder blue Mustang and just drove. Eventually, she found herself at the park with the little lake. It was her favorite place to think. Before she even knew what she was doing, she texted Kevin to meet her there. Claire knew if she was left alone with her own thoughts for too long, her old self destructive behaviors would rear their ugly head. She climbed out of the car and slid onto the hood, just staring out over the still water.

Claire didn’t even notice when she suddenly felt Kevin’s warm body slide next to hers. She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t even smelled him coming. Now that she was aware of him, she was also aware of the worry that soured the blueberries in his scent. “Why are you worried?”

“Donna came over when you left the house so abruptly. She told me you got the test results today. I was already on my way here when you texted.”

“How’d you know I’d be here?”

“Because this is where you always come when you’re stressed. Or when you want to make out. But I highly doubt that’s what you have in mind today.” Kevin said with a slight chuckle.

“No, it isn’t.” Claire agreed.

Suddenly, Kevin hopped off the car and said seriously, “Take your flannel off, let me see your arms.”

“What for?”

“You know what for, Claire. Come on.”

“You’re over reacting. I was just sitting here.”

His brown eyes pleaded with her. “Please.”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes at him but slid off the car and pulled her blue flannel off, leaving her black tank top in place. She held her arms out, under side up. “See. No fresh cuts, only old scars.”

Kevin embraced her suddenly and tightly. “Thank God,” he breathed against her hair.

Claire shoved him off gently, but firmly. “Geez, chill 

out. I wasn’t going to go there.” She almost had herself convinced, anyway.

“So?” Kevin asked.

“So, what?”

“What did the test say?”

Claire shrugged. “Oh, those dudes are my dads.” She said it as if she were talking about the weather, as if it didn’t mean anything at all.

Kevin didn’t believe it, probably he could smell the truth in her scent, even she could smell the ballooning cardamom. “Come on,” he said as he took her hand and started pulling her towards his car.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to see Charlie. I called her on my here and told her what was going on. She’s staying late at the hospital to meet with you.”

“Why are you talking to my therapist about me?”

Kevin sighed, blowing air up towards his dark hair that would have ruffled his bangs if he had any. “Because I care about you, and I don’t want this to happen again.” He pulled her arm up and held it so that she couldn’t look away from her scars.

Claire dropped her eyes down and to the side so she wasn’t looking directly at them, or him. “It won’t happen again.” She yanked her hand out of his. “Look, I’m fine with all of this, ok? You can leave me alone now.”

Kevin rounded on her and moved to block her path as she tried to walk away from him. “If you were fine with all of this, you wouldn’t be _here_ and you wouldn’t have texted me. You’re not fine, Claire; and you really should talk to Charlie, if for no other reason than I asked you to, ok?”

“Ok, fine,” she said. Claire stomped around to his car and slammed the passenger side door as she got in.

The car was filled with tense silence as they drove back into town. Claire sat stoically with her arms crossed over her chest, only moving to slap Kevin’s hand away from the knob every time he tried to turn the radio on. Whenever he tried to say something, Claire would pointedly turn towards her window, putting her back to him as best as she could while inside the car.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, Claire made no move to get out of the car or even undo her seatbelt. Kevin made his way around the car, opened her door, and detached her belt. “Come on, Alpha. You promised.” Kevin put on his best sweet omega face and did his best to flood his scent with love and support.

“Ok, I know.” Claire said snidely and let him pull her out of the car. As they headed in, Claire asked quietly, “Are you going to wait for me?”

“Of course I will. I’ll be in the cafeteria with a hot fudge sundae waiting for you, like always.”

“Ok, good.”

They walked quietly the rest of the way into the building, and Kevin escorted Claire 

to the elevator, pushing the button for the subbasement. He knew better than to get on with her. Claire never liked anyone to see her going into a therapist’s office. Even one as cool as Charlie. It felt anathema to her alpha sensibilities to talk to a therapist. She wasn’t a weak ass bitch. But then again, what did she know about being an alpha? She was raised in a house full of betas.

The elevator opened, and Charlie was already there waiting. She took Claire by her elbow, which was still bare, thanks to Kevin’s burst of concern at the lake, and led her to her office. Charlie steered Claire to sit down in one of the comfy chairs on the other side of her desk, then went to take her own seat. She propped her elbows on her desk and smiled brightly at Claire.

“So, my little alpha, what’s new with you?”

“As if you don’t already know.”

Charlie just leveled her with her all-knowing therapist look. “I know you got the results of your DNA test. Are you ever going to tell me about them?”

Claire shrugged. “Does it matter?”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, it’s only ever mattered to you since you were twelve. So, give.”

Claire raised an eyebrow right back and stared at Charlie.

Charlie reached behind to her bookcase, grabbed a magazine, and popped her feet up onto the desk. “Well, you can sit there and stare all you want, it makes no difference to me. But if you don’t talk, I’ll tell Kevin to cancel the hot fudge sundae.” Charlie was not above bribing or threatening her patients. For their own good, of course.

Claire blew a huff of air out through her lips. She shrugged, and said in the most nonchalant voice she could muster. “Test was positive. They were a match.”

Charlie slowly put her magazine down and rearranged herself so she was looking directly at Claire again. “So, how does it feel to know who your parents are?”

“They aren’t my parents. They just donated my genetic material. My _moms_ are my parents.”

Charlie smiled softly. “Of course they are.” She picked up a pen and tapped it against the desk. “You’re being awfully blasé for having just gotten news you’ve been wanting for years.”

“Maybe because now I know it doesn’t matter.” Claire shrugged.

“It doesn’t make you sad, or angry? No desire to pick up a razor blade again?”

“No!” Claire practically shouted. “Why does everyone keep expecting that? It doesn’t matter! None of this matters!” She was up out of her chair and it flew to the ground behind her.

Charlie didn’t even flinch. “Clearly it doesn’t matter.” She said smugly.

Claire looked around, as if surprised by her own actions. Sheepishly, she righted her chair and sat back down. “Ok, so maybe I’m angry. I have a right to be.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“You do,” Charlie agreed with a nod. “But do you know why you’re angry?”

“Are we really going to do this, Charlie? Do you always have to act like such a _therapist_?”

“Um, I _am_ your therapist.”

“I know. I know. But for once can’t you just be a friend?”

Charlie raised an eyebrow in contemplation momentarily before bursting out, “So, ok, girlfriend! Like, why are you so angry?” She pitched her voice high to sound like a Valley girl.

Claire couldn’t help herself, and she burst out laughing. She quelled it quickly. “You know why.”

“Enlighten me.” Charlie encouraged.

“Well, you’re the one who explained it to me. Even though ‘society’ looks at omegas as the weaker of the secondary genders, it’s really the alphas who need the omegas, not the other way around. I’m an alpha who grew up without a birth omega. One who didn’t even seem to suffer from Omega Separation Disorder. It’s like he didn’t even 

care about losing me at all. And, now, now after I’m all grown up, he shows up here and wants a relationship? As if.” Claire added that last part mimicking Charlie’s Valley girl voice.

“You don’t know that, Claire. You have no way of knowing how he felt about giving you up. Have you even tried asking him?”

“No. Mom won’t let me see him until the family barbeque on Saturday.”

“Well, then, don’t you think it’s a waste of energy to be angry _now_?”

Claire glared at her therapist. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“Really? Because I kinda like it.”

“Can I go now?”

“Be gone, little alpha. And be good.”

“Bye.” Claire rose from her chair and left, “accidentally” slamming the door on her way out.

After the promised hot fudge sundae, Claire asked Kevin to take her back to her car. When she got in to drive, she fully intended to go home; but before she knew it, she was at the edge of Bobby Singer’s property. With a shrug and a sigh, she pointed her Mustang down the long driveway and made her way to the ramshackle blue house. She sat in the car, staring at the front door for what felt like forever and like no time at all before she got out and stomped up the front porch. She banged on the front door with all of her alpha strength.

From inside, she heard a grumbled “Coming, coming! Hold your friggin horses!” The door swung open, and Claire was suddenly face to face with her birth omega.

Every single emotion that Claire thought she’d kept bottled up for her entire life came bubbling to the surface. Spicy peppery cardamom practically drowned out her cherries and vanilla ice cream scent. “You! How could you just give me away like that? Like I was _nothing_? Do you even _know _how damaging it is for an alpha to be separated from their birth omega? Did you even care?” She poked the omega’s chest with her pointer finger, hard, so that by the time she was done talking, they were inside his house.

Dean caught her hand before she could leave a bruise. “Of course I care! Why do you think I did what I did?”

“I don’t know. Because you were too selfish to have your life inconvenienced by a baby?” Claire snapped, trying to pull her hand away, but she couldn’t. This Dean guy was strong for an omega.

He pulled her across the room until they were both seated on the sofa and then he dropped her hand. “I guess I can understand why you would think that. But it really wasn’t like that, I promise.” He took a deep breath and rubbed his hand across his face. “I got pregnant after a one night stand, despite using all the protection available. The alpha and I, we never exchanged names at the time, and when I found out, I tried to find him and couldn’t. My brother and I were living in this tiny apartment. He was in college and I was an unknown writer. It wouldn’t have been right to bring a pup, to bring you, into that environment. Probably would’ve been taken from me anyway.” Dean added that last sentence miserably, as if that was the foregone conclusion.

Claire crossed her arms and stared at him with cold blue eyes. “Yeah right. I’m supposed to believe that, the way you two’ve been gallivanting around town like the hottest new ‘it’ couple? What do they call you? Destiel?”

Dean chuckled ruefully. “I know it sounds unbelievable, hell, if I were you I wouldn’t believe me, but this thing between me and Cas, it’s new. We only reconnected when we both ended up here.”

“You’re right. I don’t believe you.” Claire replied, her eyes still hard.

“I understand. Well, you can always ask Gabriel. He can confirm that Cas has been out of the country for 20 years.” Dean said patiently.

“Why would Gabriel know that?” Claire snapped.

“They’re brothers.”

Claire’s eyes widened. She’d completely forgotten that little fact. Her boss, her mentor, the only omega in her life besides Kevin, was apparently also her uncle. “Fine, I’ll text him.” She tried to keep her voice hard. She punched buttons on her smart phone so hard it was a miracle the screen didn’t crack. She never took her eyes off of it while she waited for a response. Eventually, she looked up. “Ok, Gabe confirmed your story, and since he’s the only one in this fucked up family that I can trust, I believe him.”

Dean gave her this goofy smile, that quite frankly, was creeping Claire out. “So, does that mean you consider me family?” He asked.

She narrowed a glare on him. “Just because we share genetics doesn’t make you family. My 

moms and my sisters are my family. You’re just the dude that made me.”

“Oh.” Dean tried not to let his disappointment show, but it flooded his scent.

“I mean, I don’t know what you were expecting,” Claire said, obviously picking up on it. “I don’t even know you, and you don’t know me! Why did you even do this in first place? To assuage your own guilt? I don’t need this in my life!”

Dean suddenly rose from the couch, towering over the young alpha. “You don’t understand! There has not been a day that’s gone by that I didn’t think about you, miss you, wonder what happened to you!” His face was getting red, tears glistening in his green eyes and his scent was pumping out pure distress, the ginger taking over the space. He took a deep breath, which sobbed on its way out before he spoke. “It’s not like I planned to have a baby I had no way to take care of. I _had_ to do what was best, for _you_!” He scrubbed his hand over his face and seemed surprised when it was wet.

Claire stared up at him, trying not to choke on the scent of upset omega. Despite the scent cues, she still didn’t know if she believed him. Or maybe she didn’t want to. It was easier to pretend he was too selfish to keep her rather than the other way around, because hating him was easier than letting him in. He hurt her once, he could do it again, too easily. Before she had a chance to respond, or even formulate a response, the door slammed open and she was suddenly fixed with a familiar pair of blazing blue eyes.

"You call yourself an alpha? Look at what you've done to the omega that gave you life!" He gathered Dean up into his arms and steered him to the other side of the couch. Claire tried to make a rebuttal, but he cut her off with a raised finger. "This isn't about Dean, this is about your own selfishness.” There was pure fury in his scent, all earth and bergamot and it made her nose itch. The Castiel she had met previously was mild mannered and weird, the angry Castiel she was faced with now was downright terrifying. “Did you have a good life? Did you have a family that loved you and took care of you?” Claire nodded numbly. "Then Dean made the right decision, that's what this was about for him. He was thinking about what was best for you! Now. Get. Out!" He ordered her out in a low growl that brooked no room for argument. She silently stood and left the house in a daze, not even managing to close the door properly on her way out.

Claire didn’t even remember how she got home after that. Tears were stinging her own eyes, and all she wanted was her mom and mama to take care of her. When she walked into her home, everyone immediately knew something was wrong, she reeked of alpha emotion. Before anyone could say anything, Donna wrapped her arms around her shoulders and ushered her up to the master bedroom where Jody was taking a warm bath after a long day.

Jody was just pulling on her fuzzy robe when her concerned wife and very distressed daughter burst in. “Claire? What happened?” She grabbed Claire’s wrists, her first concern that the test results had driven her to cutting again.

Barely containing the tears in her voice, she told her moms all about her confrontation with Dean and how Cas had kicked her out.

Jody sat down on the bed with arms crossed and considered her daughter for a moment before speaking up. “Good. He should have thrown you out. You were being selfish. Why do you think we wanted you to wait to meet him until we could be all together? It wasn’t just for your mama’s killer barbeque. You need time to get used to what all this means, and so does he. But no, you have to go off halfcocked like an uncivilized alpha, and I _know_ we raised you better than that.”

Donna sat down on the bed next to Jody and pulled Claire into her lap as best she could now that she was all grown up. She stroked the long blonde hair. “We just want what’s best for you. If we’d known you’d go off on your own like that, well, I woulda hidden your car keys. I thought you were just going to the lake.”

Claire wiped her eyes, she didn’t even know when she started crying. “I did. Kevin even took me to see Charlie. I-I don’t know what came over me. I’m just…I’m still angry.”

“It’s ok to be angry,” Jody said, “it is not ok to go to someone’s home and make accusations without knowing the whole story. Why don’t you go to your room and cool off? Think this through, and don’t do anything else rash.”

“I’ll bring you some dinner,” Donna added. “We didn’t know when you’d be home, so we ate without you. You must be starving after all of this.” She kissed Claire on the forehead before shooing her up and off her lap.

Claire sighed heavily. “Ok. Thanks.” She smiled softly at her moms and went to her own room.

***

Castiel stood in front of the sink washing dishes as the sun faded from view behind the trees. Distantly he wondered 

why it was that Bobby didn’t seem to own a dishwasher, but he shrugged that off and kept scrubbing the pan that he’d cooked hamburgers in that night. His omega was feeling down and out, so he’d made him his favorite food for dinner but still had to ply him and plead to get him to eat. The effects of the conversation with Claire were still lingering, Dean sat at the table and stared at the surface without saying anything, his scent filled with notes of sadness, the notes of old books were particularly strong tonight. After Claire had left, Dean had rounded on him for kicking her out but before he could truly express his disagreement of Cas fighting his battles for him, he’d collapsed into the alpha’s arms sobbing. Cas had held him then brought him in here to try for a normal night with a quiet dinner and just each other for company. He wasn’t sure if he was helping.

“Dean…” Castiel turned to face the omega, prepared to beg forgiveness because Dean didn’t need to mix being angry with him with the sadness over Claire anymore. “Let me just…”

Dean just sighed, “It’s okay, Cas. I know you meant well and maybe that’s what needed to happen. She wasn’t listening to me. Maybe she never will. This is all just a big mess. I should have never done it.” When he looked up, there was the bright sparkle of unshed tears in the corners of his eyes again.

“No, Dean, that’s not true.” Cas took Dean’s hands and went to his knees besides the omega’s chair. “You needed to know and from what Jody told us, Claire wanted to know too. It’s a lot to handle, for you, for me, for Claire. Emotions get out of control. I shouldn’t have reacted with such anger. I just could smell how upset you were and my protective instincts took over. She’s allowed to be angry. She’s not allowed to break what’s mine.”

A small smile crossed Dean’s face. “Yours, huh?”

“Yes.” Cas found himself returning the smile. He reached up and placed a hand on either side of Dean’s face, drawing him down towards him. “Mine.” He touched their lips together lightly but still he could taste the salt of Dean’s tears. It made his heart ache.

Just as he was drawing back to stand up again, Dean’s phone began to ring in his pocket. Dean pulled it out, looked at the screen then grimaced. “It’s Jody. I don’t wanna…”

“Let me. I made this mess.” Cas took the phone from Dean’s hand and answered it. “Hello, Jody.”

“Oh!” She sounded startled, but of course, she’d been calling Dean, not him. “Hello, Cas.” There was a long, awkward moment of silence. “So, I guess you are wondering why I called.”

“I assume it’s about what happened in this house earlier today.” Cas said, his voice plain and brisk. He’d never been one to mince around with words and his straightforward dealing with people often lost him friends but he was too old to change that now.

“Yes. I just wanted to say that Claire was out of line. If we’d known she was going to go over to confront Dean we would have taken her keys. That was beyond short sighted and rude.” Jody too, it seemed, was into plain speech.

Cas was a little taken aback. This was not how he expected this conversation to go. He’d expected some form of outrage for going alpha on a teenager. “I… see. Emotions were running high. I don’t believe anyone was making sound choices.”

Jody chuckled. “I suppose so. Look, Donna and I were plaining on having you and Dean come for a family barbeque this Saturday. I mean, that had been our plan all along so we could have been there to support Claire when she met Dean. Both Donna and I thought we could have prevented something like this from happening.”

“This Saturday?” Cas looked to Dean with a frown on his face. Dean was wearing a frown too, looking up at Cas. “That seems a little soon after everything that Claire said.”

“It gives her a little time to cool down but with Claire too much time can be a bad thing too. We can have you over and you can talk in a more supportive environment.” Jody paused for a moment before going on. “We can have the rest of the girls elsewhere if that would make it easier.”

“You’re sure that Claire won’t attack Dean again? My omega was distraught…”

“Cas…” Dean’s voice was full of warning and his frown was deepening.

“Claire can be a wild card but with us there, we can stop her from going so far.” Jody said with confidence. “Though I do have to tell you that I think she learned her lesson. She’s impulsive and short sighted sometimes but she’s not cruel. No one wants Dean to be hurt, I promise.”

Cas was glad that Dean couldn’t hear her side of the conversation. No doubt he would take offense. “Let me ask him.” He pulled the phone away from his ear, placing his hand across the bottom. “Jody and Donna want us to come over and try again on Saturday.”

Dean crossed his arms over his chest, thinking it over. “Does Claire want that?”

Dutifully, Cas put the phone back to his ear. “Does Claire want us to come?”

Jody was silent for a moment. “I think so. She needs closure for this. I think that’s what we can try to do for everyone on Saturday.”

Cas nodded to Dean, and Dean, after a moment of thought, nodded back. To Jody, Cas said, “We will come then.”

Jody sighed in what sounded like relief. “Good. We will plan for noon, okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Thanks, Cas.” With that, Jody hung up.

Cas placed Dean’s phone back on the table. “There, all is not lost, my omega.”

Dean looked like he was about to argue, then he shrugged. “Guess so.”

Cas took his hand and began to tug him up from the table. “Come. Let’s retire to the couch and you can show me one of those movies you’ve insisted I need to see.”

Dean’s lips began to turn into a smile and he took a firmer hold on Cas’s hand, pulling him towards the living room. “You got it, Alpha.”


	11. Eleven

Saturday arrived, and Claire was up in her room trying on every outfit she owned. Her closet looked like it puked all over her bed, but, quite frankly, she couldn’t be bothered to care. Finally, she settled on a dark blue silk blouse she had liberated from Donna’s closet, and black jeggings. The soft fabric of the shirt flowed loosely over her body, and it still smelled like her mama, so it gave her a bit of comfort. She buttoned the sleeves at her wrists, careful not to roll them up. Taking a deep breath, she made her way downstairs.

“Well, she lives.” Jody joked from the kitchen where she and Donna were cleaning up the remnants of breakfast.

“Yeah, but did her wardrobe survive?” Donna quipped.

“So, my closet looks like it puked. So what?” Claire replied. Soon she noticed how quiet the house was, it was never quiet. “Where is everyone?”

“Your sisters went to the state fair, then they’re heading to the silent movie marathon at the Rialto.” Jody said.

Claire grew wide eyed and panicked, cardamom spiking in her scent. “But why? Today is the big day. I need my sisters.”

“After that stunt you pulled the other day, you’re just lucky that Dean and Cas agreed to come over at all,” Donna explained. “We saw no reason to increase the pressure on them. Do you want them to feel like we’re ganging up on them?”

The alpha opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again. Finally, she conceded. “No, I really don’t. But Kevin is still coming, right?”

Jody shook her head. “Nope, it’s just us.”

“Ok, fine.” Claire said, but everything in her scent said that it was not fine.

“Relax, would ya? Here, take this out to the patio.” Jody shoved a plate of food at her. Claire took it with a shrug. If nothing else, at least she got to eat her mama’s barbeque. Assuming she could actually eat anything at all.

***

Kevin was sitting in his own backyard, trying to focus on his term paper. His mother had sent him outside because he was practically climbing the walls. He couldn’t help it. His alpha was in distress and she needed him. But Kevin understood why Jody and Donna wanted to keep the gathering small. After what Claire did, Kevin was surprised her birth parents were still coming over at all. He couldn’t help but think about how Dean must be feeling. He knew he couldn’t have done it, given up a child like that, no matter what the circumstances had been, even knowing it was in the baby’s best interest. Kevin was studying to be a social worker, and he knew what most likely would have happened, especially twenty years ago. An unmated omega living in a two bedroom apartment with his unmated alpha brother would have had social services in his life from day one, and most likely would have had his child taken away anyway. That would have been a much harder situation for everyone involved.

At least he was gaining practical knowledge for his term paper, which just happened to be on Omega Separation Disorder. He was staring blankly at his laptop when the smells from next door wafted over the fence. First, the delectable scent of Donna’s barbeque chicken, but under that, he picked up on the distinct scent of alpha in distress. His alpha in distress. Before he knew what he was doing, he’d shut his laptop and made his way to the neighbor’s backyard.

He found Claire on the swings, a familiar sight lately, while her moms were fussing over the grill. He sat down next to her and bumped his shoulder to hers. “You’re pretty nervous, huh?”

“You should leave. My moms will get mad. They don’t want Dean to feel like we’re ganging up on him.”

“Can you blame them? I mean, you did go all alpha on him. No offense, but you can be pretty scary.”

Claire chuckled dryly. “Not as scary as that Castiel guy.”

Kevin rearranged himself on the swing so that he was straddling it and facing Claire. “Babe, you know you probably had it coming, right?”

She rearranged herself into a matching pose. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

He took her hands. “Yours, of course. Always yours. But let’s just say, I can kinda see where the guy is coming from.”

“Why? Because you both happen to be omegas he’s your best friend now?”

“No, but I do have a unique perspective, and you never once asked me what you should have.” Kevin said.

“Well?” Claire prompted. “What was I supposed to ask you?”

“Hello, I’m going to be a social worker. I know a thing or two about how the system works. It’s unlikely that any state’s child welfare department would let an unmated omega keep their baby. Especially twenty years ago. Especially in Dean’s situation.”

Claire huffed a breath. “I know, I know. Dean did the absolute best thing that he could. I actually figured that out on my own, thank you very much. That’s not why I’m upset.”

“Then why?”

“I’m embarrassed, ok? I went and made a fool out of myself, and I hurt someone’s feelings. Someone who is, I guess, kinda important, 

ok? I just wish he’d go back to California already. I just don’t want to do this anymore.”

Kevin laughed softly. “I’m sure he’s forgiven you, otherwise, he wouldn’t be coming here, right? Also, I don’t think he’s going to go back to California.”

“Why do you think you know everything?”

“Because I usually do.” He winked at her. “One thing I don’t know, though, is why are you wearing long sleeves? It’s gotta be ninety degrees out here. Aren’t you sweltering?”

Claire dropped her head and pulled her hands out of his. “I-I don’t want Dean to see my scars. I don’t want him to think it’s because of him. I don’t want him to feel any guiltier than he already does.” She said it so quietly that if Kevin hadn’t been right next to her, he wouldn’t have heard her.

Kevin didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he climbed off his swing and dropped down in front of Claire, wrapping his arms around her waist and laid his head on her thigh, the position was awkward, given that she was still straddling the swing, but he had to be as close to her as he could. They stayed like that until the sound of new voices and new scents drifted into the backyard.

***

When Dean and Cas arrived, Jody introduced them to Donna, then looked around the yard for Claire. Everyone spotted her and Kevin at the same time.

“I thought it was going to be just us?” Dean said, fighting hard to keep his anxiety at bay.

Donna chuckled lightly. “That’s just Kevin, the omega next door. Shoulda known we’d never keep him away. He’ll probably help keep Claire calm anyway. We should just let him stay.”

Castiel shrugged as he tucked an arm around Dean’s shoulders. “As long as we don’t have a repeat of what happened the other day, then it’s fine.” He looked sternly from Jody to Donna, seeming to still be unwilling to forgive as easily as Dean had been. “I can understand how a chosen omega can be an asset to her.”

Dean nudged Cas in the ribs. “Quit it with the protection act. It’s fine. I can understand needing moral support.” He dropped his arms and wiped his palms on his jeans and concentrated hard on keeping the nerves out of his scent. He knew that would be a dead giveaway. He glanced over to Claire and Kevin, noting that the young alpha looked as nervous as he felt, though it was also clear she was trying to hide it. He met her blue eyes and nodded to her, letting her know it was okay to approach. He glanced to his side to look at Cas’s face, because he now knew his alpha could be one hell of a deterrent. Cas’s face, however, was so neutral as to be unreadable. His scent was even too. Dean had no clue what was going on with his alpha.

They waited that way, watching Claire and Kevin as the pair slowly made their way towards them together. When they joined the group, however, the space was uncomfortably silent. Dean was watching Claire, trying to gauge her feelings from what he knew of her scent but it was hard. His only experience with her was from the diner, where the scent was mixed with foods being cooked, and from his house which had been pure fury. What he was getting wasn’t giving him a lot to go on. For her part, Claire was glancing back and forth from Dean to Cas.

It was Kevin that broke the silence. “Hey, I’m Kevin.” The young man offered his hand to Dean. His scent was fully open and inviting, blueberries, graham cracker and a touch of something sweeter… maybe brandy. His dark eyes were curious but nothing more.

“Dean.” He took the young omega’s hand and shook it before nudging Cas again. “And this is Cas, my alpha.”

Belatedly, Castiel took the young omega’s hand to shake it as well. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Beside them, Donna jumped in. Her voice was cheerful and warm. “Kevin’s around here so much he’s practically family.”

“Kevin’s kinda my omega.” Claire said, tucking her hand into Kevin’s free hand, seeming to draw strength from the young man.

Dean couldn’t fault her for that. He needed Cas with him today, not just because of what already happened but because he’d be a nervous wreck without him.

Jody cleared her throat lightly. “They’re a little young for that but they’ve been in each other’s pockets since they were little.” She shrugged, the unspoken sentiment being that it was too late to separate them now.

Dean felt Claire’s eyes on him as she considered the two men in front of her. Cracking the tiniest of smiles she said, “So, you’re my biological dads, huh? I got two moms, figures I’d have two dads too.”

The joke dropped like a stone. Kevin was the only one who laughed, maybe a little too hard.

Jody gave Claire a stern look and cleared her throat.

“Right,” she nodded at her mom. Taking a deep breath, she looked Dean right in the eyes and said, “I’m sorry about the other day. I wasn’t thinking and I let my emotions get away from me. I know, that’s not really an excuse, just an explanation. Anyway, I’m sorry.” She said it all in a rush, but she was afraid if she didn’t, she’d never get the words out.

Dean shrugged his shoulders, trying not to hunch them inwards. Thinking of that day made him think about how attacked he felt, but he could tell the apology was real and heartfelt. He could read that in her eyes. “It’s a hard situation. We all let our emotions run wild that day.” He leaned into Cas a little harder.

Cas nodded his head, tightening his arm around Dean’s shoulders before he spoke. “I think that’s true of all of us. This isn’t a situation any of us thought we would be in.”

“I just thought…” Dean swallowed. “I thought I did the best thing then. I made the adoption closed because I knew if I thought about it, I’d just want you back. I knew that wouldn’t be fair to you, that they’d never let me keep you with me.” He was struggling to keep his voice from breaking so he stopped, uncomfortable with how much emotion he was revealing before strangers. “I’m sorry too.”

Claire held up her hand, as if she could see Dean straining to keep back his emotions. “I know. You did what you had to do. What was best for both of us.” Jody and Donna’s mouths practically dropped open with surprise. Claire was being so…reasonable. She looked at them. “What? I can be mature. Let’s just eat, ok? I’m starving. It’s been at least a day since I’ve eaten.”

“Yeah, I’m all for that.” Dean said with obvious relief. He gave a nod towards the food table and indicated Claire. “Why don’t you go first since it’s been so long since you ate.” This was unprecedented behavior for Dean.

Unfortunately, Cas knew it too. He leaned in close so only Dean’s ears would hear his reply. “How magnanimous of you.”

Dean pushed the alpha’s face away. “Shut it, sweet cheeks.” He turned to towards the food table to cut off Cas’s reply, but it didn’t stop him from hearing Cas’s chuckle behind him.

Claire smiled her thanks at Dean before heading towards the food. “Mama, did you make the extra spicy barbeque sauce?”

Donna shook her head. “Nope. I wasn’t sure if our guests could handle my super-secret super spicy barbeque, so it’s just the regular spicy stuff.”

“Well, it’s going to be delicious anyway,” Kevin helpfully supplied.

“I assume you’re staying for dinner?” Jody asked him.

Claire answered for him. “Please, Mom? I need him.”

“Whatever. Just leave enough food for our guests.”

“It’s not like we’re going to eat everything in sight.” Claire said with an eye roll.

Donna snort-laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Hearing this, Dean looked suspiciously at Cas, because at this point Sam surely would have mentioned that it’s normally Dean who ate everything in sight. Cas’s expression was clear and he was looking at the food on the table with a hopeful expression. Dean cleared his throat. “Extra spicy would have been fine with me.” He winked at Donna as he stepped up behind Kevin and Claire to take a plate.

Castiel cut in dryly. “I’m sure the regular spicy will be just fine.”

Dean glanced at Cas’s expression and thought he caught something. “Don’t like spicy foods, Cas?”

Cas looked at him flatly. “Dean, I’ve lived in India for a time. They define spicy food.”

“Yeah, but did you like it?”

“Of course.” Cas still had the flat expression on his face.

Dean’s grin widened. “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

Cas looked unimpressed. “There’s nothing to tell, ‘sweet cheeks’.” He even used air quotes with it.

Dean couldn’t help himself, he threw back his head and laughed, feeling some of the tension drain off of him. He was learning that he could count on Cas to help keep him sane and it was a little bit of a thrill. It was finally his turn for the food, so he stepped up and began to help himself, heaping his plate high. “This smells amazing, Donna!”

***

They made their way over to the large, inviting picnic table. Claire sat on one side, Kevin pressed close to her side. Dean and Cas sat on the other side, Dean ending up across from Claire. Jody and Donna each took a side at the other end of the table. The light banter seemed to come to a screeching halt as everyone sat there staring at their plates. Claire felt the air close in around her, and in an effort to clear it she said, “It’s not like we say grace or anything around here, you can go ahead and eat.”

“Yes, please, dig in. Donna is the best cook in the county.” Jody piped up.

In his own attempt to make conversation, Dean looked around the table, “This meal looks like the sort you'd better roll up your sleeves for." Dean smiled across the table at Claire. "Don't stand on ceremony just for me. I don't mind."

Jody and Donna exchanged a concerned look, and Donna remarked, “We raised four girls. I know how to get pretty much any kind of stain out of any kind of fabric.

Claire’s scent spiked with anxiety, and she never looked up from her plate when she said, “I’m…not really hungry anymore, may I be excused?” She didn’t wait for an answer before leaving the table.

Donna moved to follow her daughter when Cas put up a hand to stop her. He had been quietly observing the situation, and thought he could help. “May I go talk to her?”

Donna shrugged and nodded reluctantly. “We’ll be right here.”

Castiel followed Claire in through the back porch, where she was standing just inside, leaning with her arms braced on the kitchen counter, her back to the door. She smelled him before she heard the door slam shut behind him. “What do you want?” She asked without turning around.

“Nothing. Just checking on you.”

“You’re not going to yell at me again, are you?”

Cas leaned casually against the kitchen sink, keeping everything about his stance and his scent neutral. “Why would I? You’ve done nothing wrong….though I am curious why you had such an unusual reaction to Dean’s suggestion.”

Sensing no anger or animosity from the other alpha, Claire finally turned around and looked at him. “I have my reasons, ok?” She spoke softly and kept her head down. “There’s no reason for you or Dean to be worried about it.”

“That may be true, but it’s going to 

happen anyway.” Cas sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “You could talk to me, or I could get Donna, and you could talk to her.”

Claire chuckled dryly, not at all amused that her birth alpha seemed to read her so well already. She’d made her moms worry enough, and she didn’t want to add anymore on top of it, so she decided to spill. She rolled up her left sleeve and showed Castiel her scars. “Just don’t tell Dean, ok? I don’t want him to think this is because of him. He’s carrying enough guilt already.”

Cas gently took her wrist and studied her arms thoughtfully. “It must have been difficult growing up as an alpha with no omega.” After a moment, he ran his thumb over the scars, looking up into her eyes seriously. “I never gave us a chance, you know. I left the country the day after I met Dean without a care in the world.” He shook his head. “For my role in this, I truly apologize.”

Claire shrugged and pulled her hand back to roll her sleeve back down. “Shit happens. My mom likes to tell me that hindsight is twenty-twenty. Yeah it was hard, but it helped when I started working for Gabriel. Who knew we were actually related?” She smiled a half smile that reminded Castiel so much of Dean that he had to do a double take. Despite the DNA results, this was the first time Cas really and truly realized this was their child standing in front of him.

“Are you ready to go back?” He asked mildly, nodding towards the table where he could see Dean watching them with a frown. Clearly, he was already worried.

Claire glanced that way and nodded after taking a deep breath. “Let’s do it.”

Cas clapped his hand lightly on the back of her shoulder and they both walked to the table.

It was unsurprising that when they arrived, Dean spoke up. “Everything okay?” His scent had taken on a hint of anxiety though it was clear he was trying to suppress it.

“Of course.” Cas said as he retook his seat next to Dean. “It was alpha business. All taken care of now.”

Dean looked at Cas, his gaze searching and his brow furrowed but after a moment, he let it go with a shrug. “Well, I’m glad it’s handled. Let’s eat for real now.” To spur them on, he grabbed his fork and dug in, moaning at his first taste of barbeque. “Donna, this is perfect!”

That seemed to break the uncomfortable silence at the table and everyone else took up their utensils and began to eat. The conversation flowed naturally around the table. Kevin shared about his classes in social work and Claire talked about the latest happenings at the diner. Cas told funny stories about Gabriel and Dean occasionally piped in with tidbits about Sam. (Dean however was committed to eating, which he did with gusto and mostly silently.) Soon enough, the plates were empty and the air was warm and companionable. The unease had vanished and now they mostly were enjoying each other’s company.

Donna hopped up. “I hope you left room for dessert. Claire baked us a pie!” She hurried off towards the house with a spring in her step.

Jody got up and began to clear plates. She waved Dean away when he tried to help. “You sit down, mister. You’re a guest and this is my house. I’ll clear up.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “She’s as bossy as any alpha I know.”

Jody just patted Claire’s head with a fond smile.

***

The pie had been warming in the oven, so when Donna cut it and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to each slice, it melted delightfully. Dean couldn’t help licking his lips in anticipation. Claire’s apple pie had become one of his favorite things in Sioux Falls, besides Cas, of course.

Of course, everyone at the table noticed when Dean smacked his lips. Claire couldn’t help but comment, “You want to be alone with that pie?”

Dean blushed and chuckled. “Nah. But your apple pie is some of the best I’ve ever had. Actually tastes a lot like the pie my mom used to make.” He didn’t want to say that it tasted exactly like his mom’s, because that sounded weird, even to him.

“Oh yeah?” She smiled brightly at the compliment. “What is she like?”

Dean smiled softly and ducked his head a little bit. “She passed away when I was four. But she was warm, and caring. Everyone said she was the quintessential omega. Her apple pie is what I remember best though. I used to help her with it, she let me add the spices and stir the apples before putting them in the pot.”

Claire became softer suddenly. “It must have been hard, losing your mother like that.”

Dean shrugged. “It’s just part of my history. It was really hard on my dad. Uncle Bobby eventually had to take care of me and Sam. But we had a good life, and I think we helped when Bobby lost his mate too.”

Understanding Dean’s history probably helped Claire understand her own history a little bit better.

Dean felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to see his alpha touching him lightly. He reached up and squeezed Cas’s hand, just to let him know he was okay before he dug back into his pie. “Maybe it’s why I love pie so much to this day. I could marry this pie.”

“Maybe we should follow Claire’s suggestion and leave you two alone.” Cas added dryly.

Dean nudged his shoulder. “Nah, I’ll keep it clean. This is a family picnic.”

Donna chuckled from her spot down the table. “Damn right it’s a family picnic.” She paused a moment, her smile softening. “I mean, it would be nice for you all to consider yourselves welcome and at home here.”

“She’s right.” Jody said firmly, reaching across the table to hold her mate’s hand. “We want you to know that you are welcome around here to be part of Claire’s life if that’s what she wants.”

“Is that…” Claire looked up from her pie to take in her moms one at a time. “…really okay with you?”

“Sure is.” Donna added, wrapping her spare arm around Claire’s shoulder. “You’ll always be our little girl. Nothing will ever change that.”

“I wouldn’t want it to.” Dean said softly, adding his two cents a little bit shyly. “You have a good family here. They are warm and loving and everything I wanted for you. We’ll…” he broke off because this next part was hard for him, but he went on anyway. “We’ll do whatever you want, no matter what that is.” _Even if that means cutting me out_, He thought to himself. Sure, it would hurt, but by this point in his life he’d had worse and now he had his own alpha. He’d be okay. Even as he thought it, Cas was wrapping an arm around his shoulder, nodding in agreement.

Claire’s eyes bounced around the table before landing on Dean. She paused for a moment there and Dean felt pinned by her eyes, which were so like her father’s, then she looked down into her lap. “I think it would be cool if we kinda got to know each other. Maybe we can start there?” She looked up again and Dean could see the hope in her eyes.

“Of course.” Dean agreed immediately. “That sounds like a great place to start.”

“We’ve got years to catch up on.” Cas added to his side.

“Yeah.” Claire agreed, turning back to her pie to find it was pretty much gone.

Dean was done too, as was Cas and for a moment, the unease came back as they looked around the table. He cleared his throat and said as easily as he could. “I guess it’s about time for us to head out.” He didn’t want to stay too long and make it awkward.

“Yes,” Cas added and he lay his fork down on his empty plate. “This has been lovely, thanks for inviting us.”

“Well, don’t be strangers.” Donna said, coming around the table as Dean and Cas stood up. She hugged Dean firmly, and then Cas right after him. Dean expected to feel awkward through the process but surprisingly, he didn’t. Donna apparently was magical like that.

Jody joined them, offering her hand for shaking. “We mean it. You need anything, you call us. Okay?”

Dean laughed as he took her hand. “You got it.”

“Thank you.” Cas said as he shook her hand too.

“I’ll show you out.” Claire said as she came around the table slowly. Both Jody and Donna looked at her, the surprise clear on their faces. Claire ducked her head. “It’s cool.” She sounded as if she needed to tell herself as well as both her moms.

“It’s okay.” Dean jumped in quickly, because he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable. “We can find our way.”

“No!” Claire said suddenly, her voice rising a little. She brought it back down and glanced at Dean. “I want to.”

“We’d like that.” Cas offered firmly, nodding to the young alpha to let her lead the way.

They walked from the back yard together towards the driveway and no one said a word. The air between them was hesitant more than anything else, each one trying to feel out the other. When they came abreast of Dean’s car, she turned towards them. “I’ll see you around, I guess.”

“Yeah, of course.” Dean said, tucking his hands into his pockets. “And if you want to talk at all, you know where to find me.”

Claire smiled at that, small and sweet. “I do.” She pulled her lip between her teeth, looking between Cas and Dean, then she sighed. “What the hell.” She lurched forward, wrapping her arms around Dean’s neck. Her hold was firm and tight.

Dean jerked his hands up and returned the hug, feeling his heart swelling in his chest. His baby girl was giving him a hug. Tears pricked his eyes as he rubbed her back. “Thank you.” He whispered against her blonde hair.

“Whatever, old man.” She replied, easing back to stand before them. She nodded to Cas, then shoved her hands in her pockets. “Later.” With that, she headed back towards the back gate, where Kevin clearly was waiting for her.

“Later.” Dean called after her, then grasped out for Cas’s hand. He squeezed his alpha tight and looked up in those blue eyes. They looked suspiciously wet and so he frowned at the alpha. “Don’t you dare.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Cas replied, eyes wide. He hastened to the passenger door. “Let’s go home, my omega.”

“You got it, alpha.”


	12. Epilogue

{3 months later}

Dean walked into Charlie’s office to find Claire sitting behind the desk, her feet propped up on it. “What are you doing here? Where’s Charlie?”

“She called me, told me to come in.” Claire shrugged. “She’s not here, so I made myself at home. What are you doing here?”

“She called me too.” Dean said, as he sat down and propped his feet up on the comfy sofa that sat against one wall. “That’s weird.”

Before either of them could ponder for too much longer, Charlie walked in. Seeing her seat already occupied, she decided to take a seat at one of the chairs on the patient’s side of her desk. She clapped her hands and rubbed them together as she asked, “So, how are we doing?”

“What?” They asked in unison.

“What do you mean, ‘what’? You guys have had some time to get used to your new relationship and get to know one another. How are you dealing with all of this?”

“Shouldn’t we be discussing this in private sessions?” Dean asked. He was still wary about intruding too much in Claire’s life.

“Pish. Who has time for that? I do have other patients besides you two knuckle heads. Figure two birds, one session is more efficient.”

“I’m fine, Dean’s fine, everybody and everything is fine.” Claire answered quickly. It mostly was at this point, anyway.

Charlie scrutinized Claire closely, looking for any lie in her words. She gave Dean the same look a few moments later. “You guys are hiding something from me, and from each other,” she announced finally.

“We’re allowed to keep some secrets,” Dean piped up. He had a feeling he knew what Charlie was getting at, but he’d be damned if he was going to say or do anything to make Claire uncomfortable. He’d caught a glimpse of the long healed scars on Claire’s wrists one day when she served him at the diner. He didn’t want to dredge up bad memories, so he’d talked to Charlie about it instead. Clearly, Charlie already was well aware of what Claire had been through. Dean didn’t see any need for the two of them to discuss something that could hurt them both.

Claire shrugged again. “Like he said, we’re allowed our secrets. We can share them when we feel like it. Stop being a pushy therapist. You promised you’d stop doing that.” She pouted at the other woman.

Dean chuckled, a fine layer of nerves over genuine amusement of Claire’s antics. “She’s right, you are a pushy therapist. You should probably talk to someone about that.”

Charlie held up her hands. “Hey, if you two are going to gang up on me, maybe you should just leave. Or better yet, maybe I should!”

“You’re the one who called us here,” Claire pointed out helpfully.

“Yes, well, clearly you are getting along just fine. I suppose this session was unnecessary?”

“You think?” Dean asked.

Charlie huffed. “Fine, go.” She conceded.

They left without another word. The elevator ride up to the lobby was shared in comfortable silence. Once they exited, Dean stopped Claire from leaving with a gentle hand to her shoulder. He wanted to ask her for something, and was fighting to not let his nerves enter his scent. He decided to spit it out, now or never, he concluded. “Um, Claire, if you have time, there’s someone I’d like to take you to meet…well, see…I mean, you probably know him, but probably not in this context.”

Claire squinted at him in confusion, and if that wasn’t just Cas all over. It reminded him enough of his alpha, in fact, that it calmed his nerves and he finally said what he wanted. “I would like you to come meet my Uncle Bobby.”

She looked even more confused. “Bobby Singer? Dude, I know him. He’s friends with my moms. Besides, isn’t he in a coma?”

“Uh, yeah, of course,” Dean stammered. “But, I want you to meet him as my uncle. He’s part of your family now too.”

Claire shrugged, still clearly confused about meeting a man she already knew, who happened to be oblivious to the world around him. “Ok.” She agreed.

The elevator ride to the long term ward was filled with a more uncomfortable silence than the first one, but eventually, Dean led her to Bobby’s room. He sat down in the chair next to the alpha’s bed while Claire stood awkwardly to the side. Dean decided to just start talking. “Uh, hey, Bobby. This is Claire. Well, you know her already. She’s Jody and Donna’s kid…but also…well, Bobby, she’s mine to. Mine and Cas’s, actually…..” His voice trailed off as he suddenly ran out of words to say.

Bobby suddenly heaved a bigger breath than he had in months. His eyes fluttered open and he said, softly, albeit still grumpily, “I knew that, ya idjit. Who do you think did it?” His eyes drooped shut again as if nothing had happened.

Dean was too shocked to move. Thankfully, Claire was still in a somewhat normal frame of mind and immediately pressed the call button to summon the nurse. When the nurse arrived, Dean was still sitting there, slack jawed. Whether from Bobby waking up, or his sudden revelation, he wasn’t sure. So it was Claire who told the nurse, “He’s awake. He spoke.”

The nurse summoned the doctor and the rest of the medical staff while Claire pulled Dean out of their way so they could work.

***

Dean had no idea what to be more shocked about: that Bobby had woke up or that Bobby had arranged the whole adoption. Over the next few days, the alpha became more and more awake and before Dean knew it, he’d been discharged from the hospital. Dean still stayed with him to make sure his transition from hospital to home was a smooth one, however, Sam decided that it was probably alright for him to go back 

to California.

***

Dean was sitting on the couch with Cas by his side when his phone rang. He’d just finished with the dinner dishes and had helped Bobby get to his favorite chair amid grumbling. (“I can make it to my chair just fine, ya idjit!”) Unfortunately, Bobby remained a little weak and still needed a bit of help around the house but of course, Dean didn’t mind. Dean snatched up his phone from the side table and saw that it was Sam. “What’s up, Bitch?”

“Really? First thing, Jerk?” Sam shot back.

Dean chortled. “What can I say? I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Dean.” Sam cleared his throat, a sure sign that he had something to say and was hesitating to say it.

“Alright, out with it.”

“So, uh, do you remember Madison?” Sam asked.

“You mean the alpha girl you’ve been crazy about, Skyping while you were here and running off to see whenever you could? That Madison?” He snorted. “Of course I remember Madison.”

“Well, we uh… mated.” Sam said it in a rush, then went on more slowly. “Last night. We decided we were ready and just… ah did it.”

“Really? Congratulations!” Dean’s scent swelled with so much joy that even he smelled it. Next to him Cas looked up in surprise and Dean slapped his thigh companionably. “That’s amazing, Sammy. I’m really happy for you.”

Bobby sighed. “Are you gonna tell us or let the suspense kill us?”

“Oh! Hold on, Sam” Dean jerked the phone away from his head. “Sam mated Madison.”

“About time.” Grumbled Bobby.

“That’s wonderful news!” Cas said, wrapping an arm around Dean.

Dean returned to Sam. “So, are you having a formal ceremony?”

“We are thinking about doing a small one here. Would that be okay?”

“You bet! We’ll come. Me and Cas and Bobby. I’m sure Bobby’s well enough to travel.”

“Well enough to chase you out of this house too.” Bobby grumbled, his arms crossing over his chest.

Dean grinned at Bobby, reaching over to pat the back of his hand. His smile widened when 

the older alpha grumbled about that too. He really was on the mend. “So, you tell us a date and we’ll be there.”

“It’ll probably be pretty soon.” Sam said, then paused for a long moment. “So… do you think you and Cas will mate?”

“If it’s good enough for you, then it must be good enough for me, huh?”

“You know I don’t mean it that way. I just want you to be happy.”

“I get it. Don’t get your panties in a twist. We’ve talked about it. We’re just waiting for the right time. We want it to be special.”

“I get it.” Sam said on a sigh. “You’ll tell me when you do?”

“You’ll be the first to know. Promise.” Dean rolled his eyes, mostly because Sam couldn’t see him.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me.” Sam snorted. “Alright, I’m going to get back to Madison. I just wanted to share the news.”

“Hey, I get it. Honeymoon period and all. Thanks for calling, Sammy.”

“Bye, Jerk.”  


“Bye, Bitch.” Dean hung up and put his phone back down before turning a beaming smile on Cas. “This is great.”

“Of course, Dean.” Cas responded by leaning in to press a kiss against Dean’s lips. “I’ll be honored to go to their mating ceremony with you.”

“When are you two knotheads gonna take the plunge?” Bobby groused, as he always did when Dean and Cas displayed their affection in front of him.

Dean looked up at Cas to find the alpha’s blue eyes on him. They felt like they were peering into his soul but for some reason, Dean returned the look, inviting even more.

“Soon.” Cas promised. “Very soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, con crit is appreciated. Come say "hi" on Tumblr


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